On October 23 and 24, 2021, educators, researchers, and students from around the world gathered virtually and in person for the 11th International Academic Symposium on the Philosophy of Daisaku Ikeda, hosted by Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.
The symposium, themed “Coexistence of Humanity and Global Citizen Education,” featured 80 presentations by scholars from 10 countries and regions.
The opening ceremony included a message from Daisaku Ikeda, followed by three keynote speakers, including Jason Goulah, director of the DePaul University Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education. Goulah spoke on Ikeda’s philosophy of global citizenship as a dynamic orientation necessary to confront the world’s most pressing issues, from racism and the clash of civilizations to climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.
Breakout sessions were held in Chinese and English. Goulah and Lillian I, a student in DePaul’s Value-Creating Education for Global Citizenship master’s program, delivered a breakout presentation on Ikeda’s notion of dialogue in practice at the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. I also serves as the Ikeda Center’s program manager. Nozomi Inukai, translation and research faculty in the DePaul Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education, also gave a breakout presentation on her case study research on Soka University of America.
Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education 