Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education
Issue 2/ Nov 18, 2021

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
JapanSoka University hosts 11th International
Academic Symposium on the Philosophy ofDaisaku Ikeda
On October 23-24, Soka University hosted the 11thInternational Academic Symposium on thePhilosophy of Daisaku Ikeda, with scholars andresearchers from 52 universities and institutes in 10
countries and territories taking part online. A total of80 papers were presented during the symposium,
which was held under the theme, “Coexistence ofHumanity and Global Citizen Education.”
Three keynote speakers addressed the symposium:
Soka University President Yoshihisa Baba; Prof. Gao
Hong, president of Chinese Association for JapaneseStudies; and Prof. Jason Goulah, director of theInstitute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education atDePaul University.
In a message submitted for the occasion, Daisaku
Ikeda described education as the human “capacity todevelop trust in our potentialities as human beings”

and bring to flower our inherent goodness, fostering
a community creating constructive value insolidarity to battle the challenges common to all
humankind. “As we come to learn and appreciatethat humanity and the global ecosystem—andbeyond that, the very universe itself—are allinterconnected by a vast, all-inclusive fabric, thelight of education for global citizenship may guide a
civilization of harmonious coexistence where songsof triumphant joy of life will resound.”The program was divided into 11 segments,
including Global Citizen Education, Educationalism
and Educational Practices. Researchers and scholars
from institutes in Europe, Asia, Africa and North andSouth America presented papers, including Peking
University and Tsinghua University of China,
University of Alcalá of Spain, University of Nairobiin Kenya, DePaul University in the United States,
University of Guelph-Humber in Canada, Soka
Ikeda College of Arts and Science for Women inIndia, Kyung Hee University in South Korea andSoka Institute for Amazon Environmental Studies
and Research in Brazil.
USAThe Light of Learning published in the UnitedStatesOn November 1, U.S. publisher Middleway Press
released The Light of Learning: Selected Writings on
Education, the third edition of collected works oneducation by Daisaku Ikeda.
Originally published in 2001 under the title, Soka
Education, and revised in 2010, The Light ofLearning contains anew title, six newworks, and revisedtranslations to betterreflect what Prof. Jason
Goulah in the foreword
callsMr.
Ikeda’s“uniquely Eastern andquintessentiallyuniversal” perspectives
andpractices
ineducation.
Rangingfrom educational proposals and university lectures topersonal essays and poetry, the writings included in
The Light of Learning provide a comprehensive
introduction to Mr. Ikeda’s broad educational
philosophy. Updated translations center on key terms
and concepts that animate Mr. Ikeda’s singularcontributions to the field.
In his foreword, Prof. Goulah concludes: “...Ikeda
studies has emerged as a significant and growing
discipline not only in education but also in the arts,
literary commentary, religion, peace and humanrights, citizen diplomacy, nuclear abolition, climate
justice, and other areas... The writings in this volumeare compelling and encouraging, a necessary guidein the uncertainty of our turbulent times and theurgency of the moment.”
JapanSoka University’s IRISE to host the 1stInternational Symposium on Global Citizenship
Education in 2022
The Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education(IRISE) of Soka University announced that it will beholding the 1st International Symposium on GlobalCitizenship Education on October 22-23, 2022. The
symposium, which has adopted “Restoring Learningto Daily Living: Global Citizenship and John Dewey”
as its theme, will commemorate the 15th anniversaryof the opening of the Center for Dewey Studies at
Soka University. IRISE has begun to accept papers(in English only) from both established andemerging scholars and researchers on this theme. For

further information, please visit the institute website
at:https://www.soka.ac.jp/en/edu/lec_sympo/gce_sympo.

Daisaku Ikeda on Education“Reviving Education: The Brilliance of the InnerSpirit”（2001）
Text of a proposal for educational reformpublished in the Seikyo Shimbun on January 9,2001.

This Issue’s Selected Writing
Goulah, J. (2018). The presence and role ofdialogue in Soka education. In P. Stearns (Ed.),
Peacebuilding through dialogue: Education, humantransformation and conflict resolution (pp.55-70).
Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press.

Postscript⚫

We welcome comments regarding this Report aswell as suggestions on specific material that itshould feature in future issues. Contact: Ikeda
Research Institute for Soka Education (IRISE)
of Soka University (IRISE-access@soka.ac.jp)⚫

This Report is issued on a bimonthly basis, with
the next release tentatively scheduled forJanuary 18, 2022