Educating for Peace: A Teachers' Conference for Nuclear Disarmament Education
Are you a dedicated educator passionate about shaping a peaceful future? If you’re committed to fostering critical thinking and civic responsibility in your students, this conference is for you.
This three-day conference, organized by the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, the Soka Institute for Global Solutions, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to bring together and empower educators to advance nuclear disarmament through youth education. Titled “Educating for Peace: A Teachers’ Conference for Nuclear Disarmament Education,” the conference marks the beginning of a long-term, collaborative effort to bring together educators to reimagine education as a powerful tool for preventing nuclear war in the near term and achieving nuclear disarmament in the long term. It also seeks to instill in young students a deep sense of shared responsibility and commitment to safeguarding the future of humanity’s peaceful existence.
When? May 9-11, 2025 (May 9 will only include an evening keynote event)
Who? Middle and high school teachers interested in bringing disarmament education into their classrooms
What? See overview and conference speakers/schedule below
Download conference flyer here.
Please note that this conference is free and in-person only with limited space. Applications are required.
Overview & Rationale
There is an urgent need to educate the public, especially young generations, to improve their knowledge of nuclear weapons and their means of action to counter the dangerous threats of nuclear weapons today. Less than 10% of US citizens have heard of “nuclear winter” (University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, 2023). Furthermore, a survey revealed that less than 1 percent of 1,100 high school students in Washington State knew which countries possess nuclear weapons (Stover, 2019). This pervasive ignorance about nuclear weapons – sheer lack of knowledge about them, lack of imagination about their potential uses, and lack of reflection on their actual risks today – demands a critical need for making nuclear disarmament education more accessible today.
Teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the minds of future generations and empowering them to think critically on global issues. It is the teachers who can guide and invite students to understand the gravity of nuclear weapon issues and the importance of striving for a world free of nuclear threats and nuclear weapons. Teachers can inspire young students and help them realize that they – and all peoples – have their inviolable right to live and that no weapons of indiscriminate mass destruction shall deprive them of their precious lives.
However, there exists almost no opportunity for many middle and high school teachers to gather, discuss, and collaborate on this critical topic. The current state of middle and high school education lacks a focused curriculum on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, or arms control, leaving students with limited exposure to and understanding of the problem that affects humans’ survival as a species. We urgently need to provide teachers with the resources and support to educate the next generation on this crucial subject.
Conference Objectives
- Build a vibrant grassroots network of educators committed to raising awareness of nuclear war through youth education.
- Identify opportunities and resources to empower middle and high school teachers to engage in constructive dialogue with students about nuclear weapon issues.
- Carry the momentum to initiate, in the near future, a WECAN (World Educators’ Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons) movement involving educators worldwide in this cause.
Organizers
- The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
- The Soka Institute for Global Solutions
- The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
- Harvard Graduate School of Education
Speakers/Presenters (To Be Announced)
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (Detailed Schedule Forthcoming)
Day 1: Friday, May 9, 2025, Evening Only (Location: Harvard Graduate School of Education)
Day 2: Saturday, May 10, 2025, 9am-5pm (Location: Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, 396 Harvard Street, Cambridge MA 02138)
Day 3: Sunday, May 11, 2025, 9am-4pm (Location: Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, 396 Harvard Street, Cambridge MA 02138)