History

Fu Jen Catholic University was founded in 1925 in Beijing. The English name for the university was then Fu Jen Catholic University of Peking, China. In 1961, the school was re-established in Taiwan. Starting from the three colleges of art, science and law at that time, the school has now developed into a comprehensive university with more than 27,000 students and ten colleges including liberal arts, arts, medicine, science and engineering, foreign languages, human ecology, social science, law, management and theology. Founded by the Catholic Church, the school is notable for its religious atmosphere. On top of its mission to foster the growth of the whole person on the basis of truth, goodness, beauty and holiness, the university is also fully committed to the integration of Chinese culture and the Christian faith, promotion of genuine knowledge, balanced social development, and improving the welfare of mankind. These are also the missions of the Fu Jen Catholic University Press. In terms of business style, Fu Jen Catholic University Press is part of the school’s administration system responsible for the preparation of teaching material for students. Spiritually, nevertheless, the role of the Press has been expanded to keep pace with social development and educational requirements, and to fulfill the localization goal of the Catholic Church. With its independent editing department and on-campus retail store, Fu Jen Catholic University Press operates as a Catholic publication organization within a comprehensive university.

Fu Jen Catholic University Press started retail operations in 1981 in the basement of the newly completed Immaculate Heart Chapel. The retail store is now located in the Fu-Yuan Restaurant, selling books published by both the Press itself and other publishers; stationery, souvenirs, letter paper and envelopes embellished with the school emblem; as well as postcards of campus scenes. Each semester, Fu Jen Catholic University Press organizes a book exhibition on campus, inviting the participation of other publishing companies. It also participates in nationwide book exhibitions. So far, the Press has published nearly 400 books including research-related books and essays, etc.

As part of a model Catholic university, Fu Jen Catholic University Press is also a model of its type. Though facing different environments, all Catholic universities share a consistent philosophy and approach to school management, which is the pursuit of truth. This is also the core belief of the Catholic Church. Committed to improving the welfare of mankind, it strives for true peace, justice, and equality in the world; the respect of human rights, and the establishment of mutual trust and love among people. It pursues perfection for humanity and eternal life; and endeavors to build with all others a culture of love on the basis of the common values of peace, justice, teamwork and freedom.

Facing a diversified, globalized and digitalized era, Fu Jen Catholic University Press positions itself as a transmitter of knowledge and culture, aiming to help its readers build up a complete personality on the basis of truth, goodness, beauty and holiness; in the meantime facilitating the integration of Chinese culture and the Christian faith. The ultimate goal of the Press is to embrace truth, pursue balanced social development and improve the welfare of mankind.

Looking to the future

Fu Jen Catholic University is planning to establish a “Fu Jen Homegrown Innovation Store”. The purposes are to realize the ideal of placing equal emphasis on theory and practical work in both research and service promotion; building a bridge between innovative teaching programs and internship activities; providing a marketing channel for products created by students and faculty during their research and experiments, and enabling them to accumulate practical experience in managing a business. Mainly, the campus store will market and sell products, software or design works which are manufactured, processed, designed or developed by various departments, research centers or other relevant organizations in the university, or created through the innovation incubation programs or cooperative education plans.

The objective for establishing this campus store is to design and develop gift items demonstrating the distinguished culture of Fu Jen Catholic University and its religious features, thereby improving the public image and reputation of the school. In future, the campus store will also develop diversified products highlighting the unique style of each unit in the school, including the Design Center of the College of Arts, the Fashion Design Center of the College of Human Ecology, student associations, as well as individual teachers and students. The university will also hold competitions for creative works, aiming to accumulate design expertise and provide a platform for students to practice creative design and thinking. The campus store will also be utilized by university students and faculty for studies of marketing and consumption behavior, offering internship opportunities for product development, visual merchandizing, advertising and product promotion, financial management and overall store management, etc. It is hoped that the campus store will fully play an educative role and serve as a medium to display the diversified creative and research achievements of teachers and students. The university will also endeavor to improve the competitive advantages of the store to ensure its sustainable development in the education market.