by Mitch Bogen
Special to the Tribune
In the fall of 1996, Daisaku Ikeda, founder of the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, delivered a lecture at Teachers College, Columbia University, titled “Thoughts on Education for Global Citizenship.” Thirty years later, on Sept. 25, the Ikeda Center’s 22nd annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue revisited that lecture, exploring how education, teaching and the creation of caring learning environments can foster global citizenship in today’s world.
More than 100 attendees were on hand for the event, which featured as panelists Timothy McCarthy and Gabrielle Oliveira, both of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The panel was moderated by environmental lawyer Bhuvan Ravindran.
The evening also featured personal reflections on global citizenship from members of the Ikeda Center Youth Committee, as well as group singing led by Sukriti Dabral.
Before the panel, Kevin Maher, Ikeda Center executive director, offered thoughts on Mr. Ikeda’s vision of global citizenship. In addition to citing his emphasis on wisdom, courage and compassion as the core virtues of the global citizen, Maher said that Mr. Ikeda always celebrated “the curiosity, empathy and sense of shared responsibility that are essential in our increasingly interconnected world.”
During the panel, Oliveira—whose research centers on the experiences of women and their children as they migrate across borders—said that the heart of teaching is found in the endeavor to create caring environments. And, for immigrant children, it is trusting relationships that most often encourage them to reach their full potential as students.
Oliveira acknowledged that her decision to “bear witness” and “to be with the children that were detained and incarcerated at the border” can be emotionally taxing. Nevertheless, she emphasized the importance of expanding the “network of people we care about.”
Throughout his remarks, McCarthy echoed her sentiments, referring to the educational spaces he works to create as “oases of encouragement” where he and students alike can participate as full human beings.
This has been especially important in the work he is doing with his Zoom-based “global LGBTQI human rights program.” Here, participants are both “gaining wisdom” and “holding each other in compassion in a way that represents the essence of global citizenship.”
During the presentations, each Youth Committee member displayed a personal photograph and shared thoughts on global citizenship that the image inspired. Then, each shared a question that had arisen for them during their study of Mr. Ikeda’s lecture.
For example, one question was: How can we use difficult or painful experiences to connect with others in a way that fosters hope, understanding and friendship? Following the presentations, these questions served as the basis for discussions in pairs among attendees.
As the evening concluded, McCarthy returned to those “oases of encouragement” he spoke of earlier, saying, “So let’s be in the world together, because if we’re in the world together and we create those spaces, we can build a different world together.”
Learn more about the Forum at ikedacenter.org.
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