Buddhist Humanism as a Sociocultural Foundation of Education: International Perspectives on Ikeda Daisaku’s Philosophical Contributions

Multiple Presenter Session: Panel

Abstract

This symposium examines Buddhist humanism as a sociocultural foundation of education. It does so through analyses of the thought and contributions of Japanese educator and Buddhist philosopher Ikeda Daisaku (1928 – 2023) relative to three aspects of the foundations of education: teachers’ cultivation of “the greater self,” the role of poetry in education, and alternative ideals of masculinity in the wake of Trump 2.0 and the New Right America. Before his death in 2023, Ikeda founded a global network of 16 secular schools and universities and led the largest international Buddhist organization, which was originally founded in Japan in 1930 as Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, literally Value-Creating Education Society. Ikeda’s 150-volume corpus and philosophical perspectives—Buddhist and secular—have found increasing purchase worldwide in the foundations of educational research, theory, and practice. In this symposium, international scholars from four countries present new perspectives on Ikeda’s thought on education and human dignity.

Sub Track

• AESA

Chair

• Jason Goulah, DePaul University

Presenters

• Jason Goulah, DePaul University

• Gonzalo Obelleiro, DePaul University

• Giulia Pellizzato, Cambio lo, Cambia il Mondo

• Riya Kartha, University of Cambridge