Micronesian Seminar (MicSem) was a research pastoral institute founded by the Catholic Church in 1972. Its main mission was community education, although it was also engaged in social and historical research. For 40 years, MicSem served the people of what was once the Trust Territory of the Pacific: the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

MicSem was officially turned over to the Jesuits of Micronesia in 1992, and was registered as a non-profit organization in the Federated States of Micronesia. MicSem was governed by a Board of Directors that would meet yearly. Fr. Francis X. Hezel, SJ, served as the Executive Director. At its height MicSem had a staff of ten. MicSem was begun in Chuuk and was situated there for 20 years before it was transferred to Pohnpei in 1992. The regular operation of MicSem was terminated in 2012 by the Jesuits of Micronesia, although the library, now moved to Yap, remains open to the present.

MicSem’s goal was to assist the people of Micronesia in reflecting on life in their islands under the impact of the significant social change that was occurring.. As it was doing this, MicSem reflected the church’s desire to serve society even as it works to help islanders integrate their faith and culture.