Ikeda Research Institute for Soka Education
Issue 18/ July 18, 2024

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
University of Alcalá Offers New Master’s
Program on Value Creation in Education
On June 19, the Daisaku Ikeda Joint ResearchInstitute for Education and Development (IEDDAI)at the University of Alcalá (UAH) in Spain hosted asymposium to commemorate the fifth anniversary ofits founding. In his opening remarks, IEDDAI
Director Prof. Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar introduced
the new master’s degree program in Educational
Innovation for Value Creation at UAH which will
include the educational pedagogy of Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi and Daisaku Ikeda. Prof. Namrata
Sharma, adjunct professor at the State University of
New York at Oswego, and Prof. Jason Goulah,
director of the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies inEducationatDePaulUniversity,gavecommemorative lectures on the ideals of valuecreating education, and AI and happiness,respectively.
Professors at DePaul University and Soka
University Host Global Conversation on Nuclear
Disarmament
Professors Jason Goulah and Nozomi Inukai ofDePaul University hosted a “Global Conversation”
titled “A World Without Nuclear Weapons: Bringing
the Conversation Home” in collaboration withSoka University professors Andrew Gebert andStephanie Kukita on May 10. DePaul began theGlobal Conversation series in 2020, during the covid
pandemic, to foster dialogue among students acrossuniversities in multiple countries. GlobalConversations are 90-minute, virtual sessions on a
topic co-determined by the participating faculty.
They are dialogic and interdisciplinary sessions forstudents worldwide to talk to one another in realtime across international borders.
This Global Conversation centered on thenuclear disarmament perspectives and practices ofJosei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda, who were strong
advocates of the abolition of nuclear weapons. Prof.
Goulah presented a summary of key ideas from Toda
and Ikeda on nuclear disarmament and the core
principles of dialogue and inner transformationnecessary to abolish nuclear weapons. Participants
then broke into small groups to discuss questions
relating to nuclear disarmament as well as key
passages from Toda’s 1957 declaration against
nuclear weapons and Ikeda’s 2009 proposal Building
Global Solidary toward Nuclear Abolition. They also
considered and engaged in dialogue about what they
can do as educators and ordinary citizens to usher ina world without nuclear weapons. In a whole-groupsession facilitated by professors Gebert, Inukai, andGoulah, the Global Conversation ended withparticipants sharing summaries of their breakoutdiscussions and determinations in action.
The Ikeda Center Hosts the Global Citizenship
SeminarThe Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
hosted the 4th annual Global Citizens Seminar at its
facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on May
31 and June 7. The purpose of this seminar is todeepen understanding of global citizenship throughthe learning of and discussions on Ikeda’s writingsand other works. Facilitated by Prof. EloraChowdhury of the University of Massachusetts
Boston and Prof. Alexander Harang of the Soka
University of America, six doctoral students fromHarvard University, the University of Massachusetts
Boston, DePaul University, Ohio University, and theUniversity of São Paulo studied Ikeda’s 2018 peace
proposal, “Toward an Era of Human Rights:
Building a People’s Movement.”
The participants exchanged their opinions
on Ikeda’s ideas in the proposal, which held that “thewellspring for creating a society of mutuallyenriching coexistence can be found in a way of life
where we experience joy in seeing one another’s
dignity radiate its full potential.”
Soka’s IRISE to hold international symposium onZhou-Ikeda meeting, opens call for papers[Repost]Soka University’s Ikeda Research Institute for Soka
Education (IRISE) announced that it would hold
“The International Symposium Commemorating the50th Anniversary of the Meeting Between Zhou
Enlai and Daisaku Ikeda” from November 30 toDecember 1, 2024. The commemorative symposium
will adopt the theme, “Peace and Development
through Dialogue.”
The IRISE website is seeking abstracts fromresearchers on the following topics and areas ofstudy:• Research or case studies on dialogue and exchange
in the field of politics, economics, culture, andeducation in Asia or other countries in the world• Zhou Enlai’s dialogue with the world and hisforeign policies• Zhou Enlai’s thoughts and practices• Daisaku Ikeda’s dialogue with the world• Daisaku Ikeda’s thoughts and practices on peace,culture, and education
Abstract submissions will be accepted forreview up until July 31, Japan Standard, in thefollowing languages: Japanese, English or Modern
Standard Chinese. For further details, please see thewebsite here: CALL FOR PAPERS - Ikeda Researchfor Soka Education (IRSIE)

Daisaku Ikeda on Education
Leonardo’s Universal Vision and the Parliament ofHumanity(University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, June 1,1994)

This Issue’s Selected Writing
Sharma, N., and Kobashikawa T. (2024). Preserving
biodiversity of the Amazon: Pedagogicalimplications for harmonious coexistence,sustainability and global citizenship. ZEP –Zeitschrift für internationale Bildungsforschungund Entwicklungspädagogik, 47(1), 16-19.

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 September 18, 2024.