Be A Global Citizen!

The title of Ikeda's 2003 peace proposal is "A Global Ethic of Coexistence: Toward a ‘Life-Sized’ Paradigm for our age." I share a brief summary of the contents of this document while adding my own commentary on the overall significance of Ikeda's specific proposals in our current times. I encourage interested listeners to check out Ikeda's full text here (https://www.daisakuikeda.org/assets/files/peace2003.pdf). Enjoy! 

I'm joined by Preandra Noel on this week's installment of GC talks. Preandra is the Program and Office Assistant at Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. On this episode, she emphasizes the importance of friendship in building solid identities as global citizens. Enjoy! 

This is the third installment of my new interview series called 'Foster the GCs.' Today, I'm joined by Megumi Tanaka who is Soka University of America's Manager of Alumni Relations. We spoke about the role that virtual and in person interactions play in connecting people back to the mission statement. Megumi is also a fellow alumna from the class of 2011. Please enjoy listening to her insights about SUA's mission statement! 

The title of Ikeda's 2002 peace proposal is "The Humanism of the Middle Way: Dawn of a Global Civilization." This episode is a little on the shorter side. My intention is to offer up some initial impressions of the document and highlight one or more key concepts. I encourage interested listeners to check out Ikeda's full text here (https://www.daisakuikeda.org/assets/files/peace2002.pdf). May this episode spark further dialogue on the important issues he raises from 2002. For example, a discussion on dehumanization and dialogue is just as relevant today as it was twenty years ago! Enjoy! 

On this week's episode of GC talks, I'm joined by Victor Haynes who is a political scientist with a PhD from Claremont Graduate University. He talks about his passion of teaching as a way to foster global citizens. Also, he shares more about his dissertation and the ways in which President Trump's anti-rhetoric produced negative ripple effects across the political arena. How can one feel confident in their own voice, while being open to listening to what others have to say when the current political environment is polarizing? Find out! Enjoy. 

I speak with Yuko Nakajima about her work in foreign services as Third Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Myanmar. From her strong intuition to become a diplomat during University to her ceaseless efforts to assist the peoples of Myanmar in rebuilding their policies and democratic frameworks, she is candid about the struggle to reconcile between her national identity and her role as diplomat. It is a fascinating and hope-filled conversation! Enjoy! 

After a long hiatus, I have circled back to the peace proposals, and it is time to talk about Ikeda's 2001 peace proposal to the UN. It is titled: Creating and Sustaining a Century of Life: Challenges for a New Era. My goal is to cover Ikeda's proposals from the year 2000 up until the current year. Each month I will post a new installment of this series! I hope you find these episodes to be a nice appetizer for an eventual full reading of the document. You can read the entire 2001 peace proposal by following the link below. Enjoy! 

https://www.daisakuikeda.org/assets/files/peace2001.pdf

Blended learning, online communities, the Fediverse, and more! I had a great conversation with Ben Wilkoff who is the Associate Director of Admissions Operations at Minerva University. It was a joy to learn more about his pioneering actions to innovate new communal spaces via the Internet. He has a strong ethic of learning and being curious that really inspires me to persist in my inquires about global citizenship. This is my second conversation with a staff member from Minerva University. They are doing excellent work in the area of global citizenship education and recommend that you read up on them. Also, check out Ben's longstanding blog called 'Learning is Change.'

Minerva Website: https://www.minerva.edu/

Ben's blog: https://learningischange.com/

Here is a new interview series called 'Foster the GCs.' The goal of this new series is to speak with staff, faculty, and facilities workers from Soka University of America, or SUA, about the school’s mission statement, which is to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life. On today's episode, I welcome Jacqueline Chin who works for the Human Resources department at SUA. She is also a graduate of SUA from the first class in 2005. Enjoy!

Maria Fernanda Sanchez is a Soka educator who has worked within the Soka school network in countries such as Japan, the USA, and Brazil. Her experiences in teaching and coordinating span over a decade, and, currently, she is working on her PhD in English Communication at Busan University in South Korea. She is involved in many exciting projects to foster global citizens, and her dream is to one day open a school in her hometown of Caracas, Venezuela, based on value-creating education. Enjoy!