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Internationally renowned John Dewey scholars Larry Hickman and Jim Garrison gave the inaugural lecture at the opening of DePaul University’s Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education.

Over 200 students, faculty, and community members filled Cortelyou Commons on January 14, 2015, to hear Drs. Hickman and Garrison discuss their recently published dialogue with Dr. Ikeda, Living as Learning: John Dewey in the 21st Century (2014, Dialogue Path Press).

College of Education Dean Paul Zionts shared opening remarks, welcoming guests from as far away as Université Laval (Quebec, Canada) and noting that the institute’s opening coincided with the 40th anniversary of Ikeda’s second visit to Chicago.

Jason Goulah, institute director and associate professor of bilingual-bicultural education in the department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum, read a message from Dr. Ikeda. In his message Dr. Ikeda stated, “It is truly humbling that the institute for studies in education established at this university should bear my name, and I offer my most heartfelt congratulations on this newly created arena for academic exchange that transcends the boundaries of East and West in pursuit of global citizen education for the twenty-first century.”

DePaul University is highly regarded as a pioneering university that has put into practice global citizen education and expanded its global network. Moreover, [DePaul], as a prestigious institution of higher learning that has inherited the noble spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, who devoted himself to serving the socially underprivileged, has produced numerous individuals who have made great contributions to society.