We are thrilled to announce the forthcoming publication of our newest title, "Hope and Joy in Education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda Across Curriculum and Context"! Published by Teachers College Press in association with the Ikeda Center. In her foreword to the volume, Cynthia B. Dillard calls the book “a necessary text at a necessary time if we are to revitalize hope in the promise of education.” Click through to learn more about the book and purchase options!
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Dialogue Nights is a gathering space for students and young professionals.
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Our signature event is the annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue.
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Our publications explore diverse themes in peace, learning, and dialogue.
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Our Education Fellows program supports research in value-creating education.
Building Cultures of Peace Through Learning and Dialogue
Founded in 1993 by Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, and educator Daisaku Ikeda, the Ikeda Center's mission is to build cultures of peace through learning and dialogue. To that end, we host events, publish books, and produce original resources for our website. Upon our founding, Mr. Ikeda presented us with these mottos: "Be the heart of a network of global citizens. Be a bridge for dialogue between civilizations. Be a beacon lighting the way to a century of life."
About the Ikeda Center
Learn about the history, mission, vision, values, and people that shape our work.
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Thinkers & Themes
Encounter essays, interviews, lectures, and articles on diverse facets of our work.
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What's New?
Almost one year to the day that COVID-19 forced the cancellation of all in-person events at the Ikeda Center, the popular Dialogue Nights gathering for university students and young professionals returned in virtual form. The event featured an imagined conversation between inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and Center founder Daisaku Ikeda centering on their shared insistence that we all have the capacity to "author a new chapter" in our lives. Click through for more on the triumphant return of Dialogue Nights!
We are pleased to announce the release of Daisaku Ikeda's 2021 peace proposal, titled “Value Creation in a Time of Crisis.” The proposal calls for further global cooperation to address the key issues of our time: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Click through to learn more!
There is a special kind of excitement that comes from knowing you are coming together online with more than 300 other global citizens, representing 27 countries around the world. That was the case with our 16th Annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue, held on Dec 10, 2020. Five panelists, including two scholars and three young people, explored the topic, “Value Creation: Our Unlimited Power to Face Overwhelming Challenges.” Click through for a detailed article on the event.
We are thrilled to announce that as of January 1st, we have a new executive director, Kevin Maher! When outgoing executive director Virginia Benson announced this transition at the December Ikeda Forum, she described Maher as having “worked tirelessly at the Center with great skill, sincerity, and organizational brilliance for the last 18 years.” Benson, who was founding director of the Center and executive director for 19 of its 27 years, added that she “rejoices in the knowledge that the Center will have youthful energy and fresh ideas in the forefront.”
Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
396 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 491.1090 Fax: (617) 491.1169