The Culture of Peace Distinguished Speakers Series
The Soka Gakkai International (SGI-USA) opened Culture of Peace Resource Centers in New York, Santa Monica, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Honolulu with the support of former United Nations Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury. In 2007, the Culture of Peace Distinguished Speaker Series was launched to engage people in a dialogue on the values, attitudes and behaviors that reject violence and inspire creative energy toward the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

 

Lecturers in this series focus on one or more of the 8 action areas defined by the United Nations Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace: (1) Fostering a culture of peace through education, (2) Promoting sustainable economic and social development, (3) Promoting respect for all human rights, (4) Ensuring equality between women and men, (5) Fostering democratic participation, (6) Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity, (7) Supporting participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge and (8) Promoting international peace and security.

We hope that this eclectic and thought-provoking series of dialogues will empower community participants with a heightened awareness of the subtle shifts in our attitudes and behaviors that can help attain and sustain a culture of peace and to apply what they have learned in meaningful ways to their families, schools, workplaces and local communities.

 

This annual lecture series season begins on January 26 of each year to commemorate the founding of the Soka Gakkai International and the yearly publication of a peace proposal by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. All lectures are free and open to the public.

 

Soka Gakkai International-USA is a socially engaged Buddhist community promoting the culture of peace.