One of the purposes of the School of International Peace Studies is to "cultivate creative global citizens who will lead the international society as it experiences unprecedented changes through the acceleration of globalization." The 13 first cohort students have been devoting themselves intensely to all classes and assignments.

 

Alesse Nunes traveled from Tokyo to Chicago/US to participate and present his paper at the 1st International Conference on Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education hosted by the DePaul University Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education. "My topic was about the dimensions of dialogue in the global citizenship's perspective. Everything I learned in these early months at Soka University was crucial to grounding the presentation and conveying the content. I am very enthusiastic by experiencing this academic environment where you can freely exchange ideas" he states.

 

Under the theme of "Uniting, Defining, and Advancing the Field: Perspectives, Practices, and Possibilities," approximately 100 scholars, educators, and graduate students from 11 countries attended this conference on August 9-11, 2018. In three days, 39 presentations were made including comparative, theoretical, and empirical research on dialogue, global citizenship, human rights, and social justice.

 

Soka University founder, Daisaku Ikeda, sent a message to the conference: “There is nothing more robust or noble than the bonds connecting people who share a commitment to education. There is nothing more bright and beautiful than the solidarity of people of intellect exerting themselves fully in the cause of education. Here we find limitless trust in the positive potentials inherent in life itself, ceaseless value creation toward a hope-filled future.”

 

Some days after that, Mr. Nunes attended the High-Level Forum on a Culture of Peace hosted by the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarter in New York.

 

Under the theme of "A Credible Pathway to Sustaining Peace," Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd General Assembly, convened this forum, on September 5, to promote the global culture of peace and declared: "Peace takes a lot of time. It must be built up - block after block, layer after layer, and this must be done, not by the hands of internationals - but by the people on the ground, the people who were there - in their countries, and in their villages - when peace was not."

 

Mr. Nunes concluded that "It was really impressive visiting the UN headquarters for the first time, meeting diplomats and researchers, and seeing in person so high-level debates on issues that we discussed in Soka University at length."

 

Weblinks to check the information:

https://ikedainstitute.com/2018/10/09/1st-international-conference-on-ikeda-soka-studies-in-education/

https://www.un.org/pga/72/2018/09/05/opening-of-the-high-level-forum-on-a-culture-of-peace/