It’s unusual to be able to experience something fresh 22 events into an ongoing series, but that was the case with the recent Dialogue Nights. On July 29, and after two years and six virtual events, nearly 30 Boston-area university students and young professionals returned to the Ikeda Center for an evening of joyful, rejuvenating dialogue, in the process experiencing what one participant called a “fun, real, connecting space.” In her introduction to the event, which was called “Revitalizing Our Relationships: What Does That Look Like Now?,” Center Program Manager Lillian I said that...
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On Saturday, July 16, the Ikeda Center hosted its first in-person event since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. The occasion was the launch of the 2022 Global Citizens Seminar in which seven doctoral students are gathering for two seminars and engaging in a collaborative project based on Daisaku Ikeda's 2022 Peace Proposal, "Transforming Human History: The Light of Peace and Dignity." This is the second year in the now annual series, which aims to bring emerging scholars from diverse fields into dialogue across disciplines to reckon with the most pressing issues of our time....
This fall, our annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue will be held in person for the first time since 2019! To celebrate this welcome development, we have created a web resource presenting brief highlights from each of the 17 Ikeda Forums held to date. Check it out! It's a great way to a sense for the kinds of ideas and insights that have animated this joyous gathering for going on two decades now. [Posted 7-15-2022]
Go here to engage with our sampling of Ikeda Forum highlights!
Are you a fan of the Ikeda Center's The Dialogue Studio? Hosted by Lillian I, the podcasts do a deep dive into the philosophy and practice of dialogue in all dimensions of our lives. Frequently thought of as just a conflict resolution tool, dialogue actually can be seen, more broadly, as a way of life that brings value and meaning and joy to all our relationships. Recent topics include: Ingredients for Genuine Dialogue, Dialogue as a Path for Growth, Creativity and Connection, and We Are All Poets. Joining Lillian for these conversations are a wide range of dialogicians, including diverse...
There is no realizing of the profoundest, most value-creating purposes of education without properly understanding the nature and role of the individual in teaching and learning, or, indeed, in the pursuit of happy, flourishing lives in general. This conviction courses through Daisaku Ikeda’s new essay collection, The Light of Learning: Selected Writings on Education. An updating and expansion of Ikeda’s earlier volume, Soka Education, it includes a new foreword from Dr. Jason Goulah and provides an effective and stimulating introduction to the core...
On May 27, the Ikeda Center hosted its sixth and final “virtual” Dialogue Nights, with the plan being to return to in-person events this summer, more than two years after they were suspended in 2020 because of the pandemic. The evening’s topic, “The Path of Dialogue: Paving The Way to a Hopeful Future,” was chosen, said Center Program Manager Lillian I, as a way of “exploring the heart of all our events: dialogue.” She also remarked on the “bittersweet” nature of the gathering, saying, “Thank you so much for all of you who have joined us over the past year and...
One of the core purposes of the Ikeda Center is to invite contemporary scholars into dialogue with the philosophy of our founder, Daisaku Ikeda, offering fresh perspectives on the principles that animate his work, and ours. In that spirit, on May 12, the Center hosted its second Indigo Talks lecture, featuring Dr. Johnny Lupinacci, Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education at Washington State University. In a talk called "Envisioning A Better World Together Through Value Creation, Interdependence, and Creative Coexistence," he urged us to look at the deepest...
By Mitch Bogen
With the American Educational Research Association convening in person for the first time since 2019, it seemed a perfect opportunity to bring together many of the contributors to our newest title, Hope and Joy in Education, for a panel discussion exploring key themes from the book, now one year after its publication by Teachers College Press in April 2021. Organized by volume co-editors Jason Goulah of DePaul University and Isabel Nuñez of Purdue University Fort Wayne, the event also...
The Ikeda Center was founded by Daisaku Ikeda as the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century on September 24, 1993, the day of his Harvard University lecture, “Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization.” In 2009, Mr. Ikeda agreed to our request to change our name to the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, which reflects our founders commitment to these ideals and more clearly expresses the objectives of our work.From the start, center programs have focused on the mission of bringing...
We are thrilled to share that our latest title, Hope and Joy in Education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda Across Curriculum and Context, has received a 2022 Society of Professors of Education (SPE) Outstanding Book Award! This is tremendous recognition by one of the oldest and most respected academic associations in the country. The Award was announced at the (virtual) SPE conference on Saturday, April 23 that was attended by more than 60 scholars in the field of education....
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Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
396 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 491.1090 Fax: (617) 491.1169