Dr. Paul Sherman is recently retired Chair, Community Social Services program at the University of Guelph-Humber, Toronto, Canada. 

He is the founding and current director of the Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship where he mentors undergraduate students in conducting research on topics related to the theory and practice of Soka education and global citizenship. 

Paul has developed and taught undergraduate courses on global citizenship in Canada and Japan, and has developed and led study abroad courses in Sweden, Japan, Italy, and Austria. For the past four years he and his research students have been engaged in a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project with Japanese and Malaysian high schools. 

Paul received his PhD in Education and Social Justice from Lancaster University, UK. He has authored numerous peer reviewed publications on the highly aligned subjects of global citizenship education and Soka education. Enjoy our conversation about his efforts to build greater awareness of interconnection and global citizenship.

Naomi Otsuka is an actor, writer, and singer. She is interested in philosophy and the aesthetics of beauty across different cultures. Her curiosity about how people convey their emotions and articulate their values led her down the path to acting. By channeling her own lived experiences and engaging in method acting, she views the process of bringing a character to life as an act of bridging differences and connecting with the humanity of the character. She speaks about the intersection of art and global citizenship. Check out what Naomi has to say about being a global citizen!  

David Jackson is the founding Head of School at the South Bay Classical Academy. Previously, he was Head of School at Canterbury School, a PK-12 independent day school in Indiana. David has over two decades of teaching experience and his subjects included Latin, AP World History, AP European History, and AP Government & Politics. David shares his passion for classical education and how he had personally benefited from this education in his youth. Find out what David has to say about being a global citizen! 

Toko Itaya is a doctoral student in curriculum studies at DePaul University. She is a Japanese teacher who has taught high school and undergraduate students in Japan, Brazil, and the United States. She shares her humanistic approach to teaching as a way to open up new possibilities through language acquisition. From her own experiences of learning languages, she speaks about the difficulty of learning a language and the joy of unlocking new aspects of one’s identity as a global citizen. 

Alexis Redding is a faculty member at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include college access, mental health, and human development. After college, she moved to Switzerland and started a tutoring company. Her approach was grounded in a deep commitment to the success of each student and their unique strengths and learning differences. From a decade of tutoring and college counseling, Alexis noticed patterns of behavior where students experienced greater anxiety about what decision they should make. Her research seeks to answer many questions about how teenagers transition from high school to college. Check out what Alexis has to say about being a global citizen!  

Gonzalo Obelleiro is Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies at DePaul University. His research interests include curriculum theory, philosophy of education, ethics, and cosmopolitanism. He shares his thoughts about global citizenship through his own lived experiences being from Argentina and moving abroad to the United States and Japan. Many of the anecdotes he shares help to explain global citizenship as an ongoing expansion of one’s own identity in relation to culture and society. 

Emma Sherbine is an educator, social media influencer, UN youth representative, and world traveler. She is engaged in digital outreach in Liberia where she carried out her Peace Corp mission. From South Korea to the USA to Uganda to Liberia, her passion to learn from different cultures and peoples has broadened her perspective on what it means to be a global citizen. She speaks about the digital divide in sub saharan Africa. There is a great need to increase access to the internet and leverage technology to bring about greater societal change in countries like Liberia. Emma is committed to make her impact alongside her friends and community in Liberia by continuing her work from the Peace Corp and engaging more start up ventures within edtech. Check out what Emma has to say about being a global citizen!   

Check out what Nitesh Sil has to say about being a global citizen! For the full conversation, you can search for episode 18. Enjoy!

Check out what Lynn Harper has to say about being a global citizen! For the full conversation, you can search for episode 13. Enjoy!

Ryan Hayashi is a math teacher in Arizona with over 13 years of teaching experience. He began his teaching career through Teach for America and was placed in Ciudad Juarez along the US-Mexico border. At the time, New Mexico was ranked 50 out of 50 in terms of its national ranking and the city where his school was located was considered the most dangerous city in the world according to homicide rates. Ryan shares about his initial struggles and doubts as a teacher who was not set up for success. Regardless, he transformed his classroom environment and grew as a teacher together with his students. He draws from his undergraduate experiences at Soka University of America as his inspiration for being a truly humanistic teacher. Check out what Ryan has to say about being a global citizen!