The BRC's first print newsletter of 2008 is now available for downloading as a PDF at the BRC website. In the feature interview, religious pluralism scholar Paul Knitter (r) talks about how the BRC-developed books Subverting Hatred and Subverting Greed embody ideals of interreligious dialogue. He also offers a tough critique of conventional thinking on issues of war, peace, and global economics. Also in the issue: the challenge of teaching and learning in the global ethics classroom; and Ethical Visions of Education and the power of generative ideas.

Read the BRC Winter '08 newsletter

On February 27, more than 100 community members gathered at the BRC to participate in a public dialogue called "Understanding Death, Appreciating Life." The primary speakers included writer-scholars Mary Catherine Bateson, Harvey Cox, Nur Yalman, and Tu Weiming. What proved to be a recurring theme for the afternoon was posed by BRC President Masao Yokota in his opening remarks. Referring to BRC founder Daisaku Ikeda's 1993 lecture at Harvard, he pointed to the possibility of establishing a joyful condition in which both life and death are experienced with "equal delight." This challenging idea united the gathering in a spirit of shared investigation. Two events this fall, on September 20 and October 18, will provide the opportunity for further exploration.

Read Daisaku Ikeda's 1993 lecture, "Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization"

Many people in the BRC network know Nel Noddings as the editor of the BRC-developed book Educating Citizens for Global Awareness (Teachers College Press, 2005). This multi-author collection is a popular resource at education schools nationwide. Nel's latest book from Teachers College Press is called When School Reform Goes Wrong, and is "a must read," says David Berliner of Arizona State University, "for anyone who cares about our troubled public system of education." That's most of us, we think. Underlying all of Noddings' work is a strong commitment to caring and positive student-teacher relationships as the foundation of effective teaching and learning.

Learn more about When School Reform Goes Wrong

Read the Noddings essay, "Caring in Education"

We all know the saying that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind." But how do we break that self-defeating cycle? Many people today are pointing to the practice and philosophy of restorative justice, which focuses on repairing harm in the widest sense. During Spring 2003, the BRC conducted a restorative justice seminar series. In-depth interviews with seminar participants such as Judith Thompson, Carolyn Boyes-Watson, Robin Casarjian, Donna Hicks (left), and Saroeum Phoung (right) are available at the BRC website.

Read interviews exploring restorative justice