Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education
Issue 13/ September 18, 2023

Report onIkeda Studies in Education
PurposeThe Report on Ikeda Studies in Education iscompiled and circulated by the Ikeda ResearchInstitute for Soka Education (IRISE) of Soka
University. The Report serves as an informationsharing tool for scholars and researchers of this fieldof study, with the aim of facilitating on a global basis,
further advances in the research of and activities
relevant to Ikeda studies in education.

News Update
USA
DePaul University Institute for Daisaku Ikeda
Studies in Education hosts international
conference
On August 17-19, 2023, the DePaul University
Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education
hosted the 3rd International Conference on
Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education. Convened under
the theme “Interdependence, Literary Selfhood, andthe Restoration of Humanity,” the conference
commemorated the 30th anniversary of two
important works that Daisaku Ikeda presented in theUnited States in 1993—his poem “The Sun of Jiyu
Over a New Land” and his second Harvard address,“Mahayana Buddhism and 21st Century
Civilization.”
The Institute received more submissions
than ever for this conference, which for the first time
was held both in person (Aug 17 & 18) and virtually(Aug 19). With more than 60 presentations across 20
concurrent sessions—and participants representing
countries from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas,
and the Middle East—this was the largest and mostdiverse conference to date.
In his welcome address, Institute director
Jason Goulah introduced the conference theme,
noting that the featured 1993 works from Ikeda
advance multiple principles, cohered ininterdependence, that remain relevant today andenliven Ikeda’s broad goal of the restoration ofhumanity at the heart of his philosophy of humaneducation. Goulah also described what he calls
Ikeda’s “literary selfhood,” or “deeply dialogic andlived engagement with transnational literature,
poetry, writers, and their thought and ideals thatuniquely animates his approach to his spheres ofinfluence and nurtures and vindicates his faith inhuman possibility across them.”
The conference keynote, “Dialogues of theHeart: Daisaku Ikeda, Transnationalism, andAmerican Literature,” delivered by Boston
University professor of English Anita Patterson,
explored this literary selfhood in detail. Tracing thehistory and influence of Buddhism in American
literature, including in the work of Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Walt Whitman, Patterson highlighted
the role literature can play in promoting transnational
dialogue and cultural understanding. She also
explained how Ikeda’s lifelong engagement with
American literature has been a source of inspiration
to her own work as a scholar and teacher.
Before the keynote, Jennifer Mueller, thenew dean of DePaul’s College of Education,
welcomed conference participants and offeredspecial appreciation to students in DePaul’s doctoral
program in Value-Creating Education for Global
Citizenship for joining the conference. Mueller also
recognized the Institute’s 10th anniversary in 2024
and expressed her resonance with Ikeda’s emphasison the need to enact education (教育; kyōiku) not as
one-directional “teaching” but as the homophone for“mutual fostering” (共育; kyōiku) of self and other,teacher and taught.
UKPanel discussion on education for global
citizenship and hope held in the UK
On August 24, a panel discussion entitled “GlobalCitizenship as a Pedagogy of Hope” was held at theEuropean Conference on Educational Research(ECER 2023) organized annually by the European
Educational Research Association (EERA). The
conference was hosted by the University of Glasgow
from August 22-25.
Founded in 1994, EERA, according to its
website, is comprised of national and regional
associations representing educational researchers
and aims to promote collaborative research inEurope.
The panel discussion featured presentations
from three scholars: Dr. Namrata Sharma from theState University of New York, USA; Prof. Douglas
Bourn, Director of the Development Education
Research Centre at the UCL Institute of Education,
UK; and Prof. Ana Belén García Varela, Vice
Director of the Daisaku Ikeda Research Institute forEducation and Development at the University ofAlcalá, Spain. Prof. Massimiliano Tarozzi from theUniversity of Bologna, Italy, also took part in thediscussion as respondent
The session explored the theory andpractice of global citizenship education, focusing on
the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for sustainability.
Dr. Sharma spoke on an intercultural approach toeducation for sustainable development and globalcitizenship, including value-creating globalcitizenship education as a pedagogical approach. The
aim, she said, is to build resilience and hope throughengaged relationships between learners and theirnatural, social and educational environments.
In his presentation, Prof. Bourn cited thepandemic and climate change crisis as illustrating theneed for education worldwide to incorporate diverse
perspectives that suggest social change is indeed
possible. To achieve this, in his view, social justice—based on themes of global citizenship and a sense ofhope—requires a greater role in effecting
meaningful change.
Drawing on examples of studies carried out
at the University of Alcalá, Prof. Valera said that itwas essential for teachers to reflect on how to create
value in a classroom. Based on the use oftransformative and dialogic learning approaches, she
explained that teachers, by taking more
responsibility for their own learning, are able to seethemselves as potential agents for transforming
reality to construct a more just world.
Finally, Prof. Tarozzi responded to the threepresentations. He outlined the importance of

happiness as a goal of education from the Soka
paradigm and Deweyan perspective that expands
beyond Kant’s articulation of happiness as limited tothe scope of the individual and includes the welfareof others. Also, he suggested hope as a politicalvirtue from a Freirean outlook, and the necessity ofhope as a positive idea, calling for a new vision for
the future of education for global citizenship.

Daisaku Ikeda on Education
The Tradition of Soka University (March 15, 1998)

This Issue’s Selected Writing
Goulah, J. (2021). Value creation and value-creating
education in the work of Daisaku Ikeda, Josei Toda,
and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. In W. H. Schubert &M. F. He (Eds.), Oxford Encyclopedia ofCurriculum Studies. Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1137

Postscript⚫

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We welcome comments regarding thisReport as well as suggestions on specificmaterial that it should feature in futureissues. Contact: Ikeda Research Institute forSoka Education (IRISE) of Soka University(IRISE-access@soka.ac.jp)
This Report is issued on a bimonthly basis,
with the next release tentatively scheduled for
November 18, 2023.