In this interview from 2001, the late Dr. Vincent Harding (Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation at the Iliff School of Theology, and Chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project) shares ideas on the purpose and practice of education: its relationship with our humanity, how teachers can impart something more valuable than knowledge, and why adults should pay attention to children. Masao Yokota (Adviser to the Ikeda Center) conducted the interview.  (Part 1 of 2)

Episode 1: Vincent Harding - The Purpose and Practice of Education

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 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.

Episode 11: Betty Reardon - The Relationship Between Human Dignity, Human Rights, and Peace

In this episode, Dr. Judith Thompson shares some insights on the lens of social healing and its relation to peace building.  She comments that “The social healing lens is really a paradigm; it’s a vision that arises basically from the inherent truth of interconnectivity, which is to say it’s a lens of compassion. And I see it as an evolutionary step for us. The older paradigm, the paradigm of separation, which has brought with it a retributive lens, let us say, within the field that I work in, sees and depends upon on some level people being able to separate themselves from the other and not have a sense of relatedness to the experience of the other."   She continues: "Compassion arises in the process of social healing because we are able to let go of a sense of rigid self, and often that’s a righteous self that sits in judgment of the other. But when at the point that we are able to say ah I recognize that I too have been a victim, or I too have been a perpetrator, or I too have stood by while others have been harmed. That allows us to recognize that we’re all in this together, and that there’s a communal enterprise. And that’s really what social healing is about." Dr. Thompson has been engaged in projects promoting social healing for over twenty years, working primarily with survivors of war and political violence. As part of her doctoral research for the Union Institute, she convened a three-day dialogue hosted by the Ikeda Center that brought together 25 people from all over the world to explore the question, "How does compassion arise in the process of social healing?" In 1984, Thompson co-founded Children of War, Inc., an award-winning international youth leadership organization that supported the vision and leadership of young activists from 22 war-torn countries.  Dr. Thompson has also helped to develop social healing programs in Israel/Palestine and Cambodia and has worked closely with indigenous elders from North, Central, and South America who are seeking to support worldwide social and ecological healing through their traditional ceremonies.   Dr. Thompson was recipient of the Bunting Peace Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies and the International Peace Prize of the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation.  The audio from this interview is from a series of video reflections that were posted on the Ikeda Center YouTube page in August of 2011.  

Episode 10:  Judith Thompson – Social Healing and the Greater Self

In the second of our conversation with Matt Meyer, he shares some insights on bringing peace education into the classroom. Professor Meyer explains, “If one understands, if one thinks about the power of love and the power of hate, the power of passion in one's own pedagogy, and in one's own life and movement building, then one will have access to a greater range of more powerful tools than if one was unconscious of these very important forces.”    He continues, “If you go in with respect, with the truth, with your own honest self, no matter what you teach, you will most likely get it back from at least the vast majority of students you're teaching. And to me that says a lot, not just about how to become a good teacher, but how to become a good organizer and a good person.”   Matt Meyer is a New York City-based educator, activist, and author, is coordinator of the War Resisters International Africa Support Network, and United Nations/ECOSOC representative of the International Peace Research Association.  The audio from this interview is from a series of video reflections that were posted on the Ikeda Center YouTube page in Spring 2016. 

Episode 9: Matt Meyer – Practicing Peace Education in the Classroom

In episode 8 of the Ikeda Center Podcast, Matt Meyer discusses the significance of love, dialogue, and unity in peace and justice movements today. He comments, “We know that in building a nonviolent movement—in education, in practical grassroots realities, and in our personal lives—that we need to confront injustice, hopelessness, and the problems that are around us in the world. So revolutionary nonviolence and a continuum of nonviolence, for me, centers around understanding our own power, in truth, in soul, and in love.”  Meyer continues, “It's time to engage in dialogue across ideological difference, across racial, ethnic, social and cultural difference, across class difference. And to look at where we have points of principal, but real unity. Without unity, and without a sense of unity among people working for a positive change, we're lost.”  Matt Meyer is a New York City-based educator, activist, and author, is coordinator of the War Resisters International Africa Support Network, and a United Nations/ECOSOC representative of the International Peace Research Association  The audio from this interview is from a series of video reflections that were posted on the Ikeda Center YouTube page in Spring 2016. 

Episode 8: Matt Meyer – Positive Approaches to Peace and Justice Movements

In episode 7 of the Ikeda Center podcast, Donna Hicks introduces her definition of the concept of dignity as well as its relation to resolving conflict. She explains, "Every single one of us, we all have dignity. We're born with it. It's part of who we are as a human being and we all have inherent value and inherent worth. In fact, I would even argue that we are not only valuable and worthy, but that we are invaluable, that we're priceless and irreplaceable.” 
 
Dr. Hicks also shares insights on fostering a culture of dignity in the workplace. She states, ”I think a good leader will recognize that not only does she or he have to embrace the work, but also embrace the concept that we want everybody to be treated as if they're valued and cared for here.”

Dr. Hicks is Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and author of the "Dignity: The Essential Role it Plays in Resolving Conflict." She has 20 years of experience facilitating dialogue between communities in conflict all over the world, including the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Cuba, and Northern Ireland.  Learn more about her work at: drdonnahicks.com

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

Episode 1: Vincent Harding - The Purpose and Practice of Education

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