In this episode, Dr. Betty Reardon shares some insights on the relationship between human dignity, peace, and human rights.  She also discusses the necessity of developing a systemic approach to peace building.  She shares that human dignity, "is intrinsically part of human beings, but it has to be realized, and to be realized, it has to be actualized."     She continues, "we must come to awareness that as human beings we are endowed with dignity, which at its essence means that we are worthy of life, we are worthy of respect, and we are responsible to give respect and affirm life. Now those are intentions that require reflection and action, so that unless there is this process of reflection and action, dignity doesn’t truly exist in our experienced world. And I would argue that many people are denied dignity, many people are convinced by their experience and by argumentation made by those who see that they are advantaged by some not having their full dignity, they come to believe it."     

Dr. Betty Reardon is founder of the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) and one of the civil society originators of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Widely published in peace education and gender issues, her books include the recently edited volumes, "Betty A. Reardon: A Pioneer in Education for Peace and Human Rights” and "Betty A. Reardon: Key Texts in Gender and Peace.” These two volumes which include selections from Dr. Reardon's publications from the 1960s to the present have recently been published by Springer. Dr. Reardon’s publications are archived in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo Library.

  The audio from this interview is from a series of video reflections that were posted on the Ikeda Center YouTube page in July of 2015.