Living the Culture of Peace

SUA students and alumni shared personal experiences living in accordance with the principles of peace at Soka’s 8th annual dialogue on peace and non-violence on October 11th.

This year’s dialogue, “Living the Culture of Peace in 2021” was the first to include student representatives and was conducted virtually to allow speakers from around the world to participate.

In his opening remarks, Anwarul Chowdhury, former under-secretarygeneral and United Nations Ambassador, honored Soka founder Daisaku Ikeda’s endeavor to build a culture of peace through dialogue. Ambassador Chowdhury emphasized four concepts that are essential to creating a culture of peace: non-violence, the oneness of humanity, global citizenship, and disarmament measures.

Moderator Tetsushi Ogata ’05, visiting assistant professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at SUA, noted that Chowdhury’s own efforts were important for the establishment of the UN’s resolutions in support of a culture of peace.

Current and former SUA students then shared their experiences and efforts in advocating and implementing a culture of peace in their daily lives. The panelists included:

Hinako Irei ’20, a master’s degree candidate at Claremont Graduate University

Nandini Choudhury ’12, a data analyst at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Jonathan Junqua ’16, a fourth-year candidate for a joint medical and public health degree at Touro University California

Subina Thapaliya ’22, a fourth-year student from Nepal

Natsuha Kataoka ’23, a second-year student from Japan

Maya Hidana ’25, a first-year student from Israel

Watch full video of the event: www.soka.edu/peace-dialogue