The Dialogue Studio

We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By..? series, this time unpacking the concept of value creation. Host Lillian Koizumi is joined by Dr. Nozomi Inukai, Translation, Research, and Instruction Faculty at the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education at DePaul University. In the episode, Dr. Inukai offers an in-depth and accessible explanation of what value creation...

Happy 2026! We are starting the year with another episode of “And the dialogue continues…” This time, Lillian talks with Preandra and the Center’s new Peace Research Fellow, George Koichi Wong, about our recent Dialogue Nights. Tune in to hear about how Dialogue Nights attendees created their own 30-day challenge vision calendar and what inner dialogue looks like for George and Preandra.&nbsp...

We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By series, this time unpacking what we mean by hope. Host Lillian Koizumi delves into the concept and introduces Daisaku Ikeda’s writings and perspectives on hope. She also invites Ikeda Center’s Program and Office Assistant Preandra Noel to share what hope means to her, how she cultivates and sustains it in her life, and how we can continue...

In April of this year (2025), several staff members of the Ikeda Center visited the city of Nagasaki in Japan. During their time there, they had the opportunity to visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Monument, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, and other sites impacted by the US bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. They also had a chance to meet with several hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) to learn...

In recent years,  folks in our community have expressed deeper challenges when it comes to engaging in dialogue across differences and having difficult conversations. With this in mind, this episode explores how we might navigate these interactions  through the Center’s dialogue commitments and ground rules, which are informed by Daisaku Ikeda’s dialogic ethos and strategies. ...

In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi talks with nuclear disarmament experts and educators Brennan Tierney and Masako Toki about their personal journeys, what inspired them to pursue this work, their thoughts on the role education plays in creating a nuclear-free world, the role of young people in the disarmament movement, and much more.  Brennan is a public school civics teacher an...

This month, host Lillian Koizumi talks with Drs. Josh Snyder and Stephanie Edwards about the role of spirituality and interfaith dialogue in these times of division.  Dr. Snyder is Associate Professor of the Practice in Theological Ethics at Boston College. He also is the Director of the Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor.  He earned his Ph. D. in Theological Ethics from Boston College...

Last year, we launched a new series called What Do We Mean By? where host Lillian Koizumi unpacks different concepts we explore and practice at the Ikeda Center. All of these concepts are informed by the philosophy of our late founder Daisaku Ikeda. In this episode, Lillian unpacks the concept of dignity. She also invites Ikeda Center’s Outreach Manager Anri Khare to share her thoughts on dignity...

In our last episode of the year, host Lillian Koizumi welcomes Ikeda Center Executive Director Kevin Maher back to the Dialogue Studio to reflect on 2024 and the Center’s work and mission. In their conversation, Lillian asks Kevin about memorable events from this past year, how he continues to draw inspiration from and apply Mr. Ikeda’s philosophy, what he’s excited about for 2024, and more.&...

This month, host Lillian Koizumi talks to Eliza O’Neil, who is a Senior Curriculum Developer at the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI). Eliza’s role at CDI is to create dialogue-focused curriculum, resources, and trainings for students, educators, administrators, and anyone looking to cultivate skills to foster connection across differences in any context. In the episode, Eliza shares her caree...

Earlier this year, we launched a new series called What Do We Mean By? where host Lillian Koizumi unpacks different concepts we explore and practice at the Ikeda Center. All of these concepts are informed by the philosophy of our late founder Daisaku Ikeda. In this episode, Lillian unpacks the concept of human revolution. She also invites Ikeda Center’s Publications & Communications Specialist...

We are launching another new series in the Dialogue Studio called “And the dialogue continues…” where host Lillian Koizumi reflects on highlights and perspectives from the Center’s Dialogue Nights/Dialogue Nights Lite event series with her colleagues. In this episode, Lillian talks with Anri, Preandra, and Lanre about the recent Dialogue Nights Lite launch and the insights they gained from the eve...

  In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi continues her conversation with nuclear disarmament activists Molly McGinty and Emma Pike. In part 2 of this conversation, they discuss the importance of engaging in dialogue with those we don’t agree with, why it is so important for youth to get involved, and what gives them hope in these times of conflict and division.  Molly joined the Inte...

Molly McGinty, IPPNW In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi talks with two nuclear disarmament activists Molly McGinty and Emma Pike about how they started their careers in this field as young people, what they feel are the biggest obstacles to abolishing nuclear weapons at this time, and how their friendship has sustained and deepened their commitment to this work.  Molly joined the Inte...

In this episode, host Lillian Koizumi talks with Dr. Roland Joseph, a member of the “Nonkilling Security & International Relations Research Committee” at the Center for Global Nonkilling. In their dialogue, Dr. Joseph talks about the importance of peace education and promoting nonkilling, the aspects of Daisaku Ikeda’s peace philosophy that inspire him, what it would look like to teach ch...

This month’s Dialogue Studio guest is the Center’s new Senior Peace Researcher, Professor Alexander Harang. In the episode, Lillian talks with Professor Harang about how he got involved in the peace field, his introduction to Daisaku Ikeda’s work, his reflections on the current state of peace, and what he is looking forward to in his new role at the Center. In addition to his...

  This year, we are launching a new series in the Dialogue Studio called What Do We Mean By? where host Lillian Koizumi unpacks different concepts we explore and practice at the Ikeda Center. All of these concepts are informed by the philosophy of our late founder Daisaku Ikeda. In this episode, we kick off the series by examining peace cultures. In it, Lillian delves into the Center and Mr....

For our first episode of the year, we are taking a moment to reflect on 2023 as a start to the new year. Dialogue Studio host Lillian Koizumi invites her colleagues Anri Tanabe and Preandra Noel to share their takeaways and learnings from the Center’s 30th anniversary year. They also discuss what continues to give them hope and what building cultures of peace means to them.  Music attrib...

This month, we are wrapping up our special 30th anniversary series where we unpack themes from Daisaku Ikeda’s 1993 Harvard address, “Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization.” In this final episode of the year, our host Lillian explores the theme of dialogue and dignity with renowned scholar Dr. Donna Hicks. In their conversation, Lillian asks Dr. Hicks about the role of dignity in...

This month, we continue our special 30th anniversary series where we unpack themes from Daisaku Ikeda’s 1993 Harvard address, “Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization.” In this episode, our host Lillian dives into the theme of human restoration with two Ikeda Center Youth Committee members Kip Clark and Yuko Tsuji. In their dialogue, Lillian invites Kip and Yuko to share refle...

In this episode, host Lillian I speaks with two friends of the Ikeda Center, Angie Lu and Sakshi Khurana, about the timely theme of interdependence. Angie is completing her Master of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Sakshi is a Research & Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a doctoral candidate in Value-Creating Education for Global Citizenship at DePaul University....

In the episode, host Lillian I speaks with Bernice Lerner about her riveting book, All the Horrors of War: A Jewish Girl, a British Doctor, and the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen. In their conversation, Dr. Lerner reflects on the experience of writing about her mother’s Holocaust experience, how she sees her writing as an important vehicle for teaching about peace and justice, the transformative...

In this final episode of 2022, Dialogue Studio host Lillian I speaks with two Ikeda Center youth committee members, Anna Liao and Mary Schletzbaum, about their experience participating in the 2022 Ikeda Forum, “Our Stories Matter: Dialogue As a Way of Knowing, Being, and Becoming.” Together, they reflect on their key takeaways from the forum, including the power and importance of sharing our perso...

In this episode, Dialogue Studio host Lillian I speaks with two doctoral students who participated in the 2022 Global Citizens Seminar at the Ikeda Center: Jonathan Jacob of Brandeis University and Olivia Fitzpatrick of Harvard University (their full bios are below). During the discussion, they reflect on their experience participating in the seminar, what dignity and agency looks like i...

This month, we are joined by Dr. Melissa Bradford, who is a Professional Lecturer in the Department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum at DePaul University. She teaches educational leadership, research methods, and value-creating education, and directs the Internship Program for Principal, Superintendent, General and Higher Education Leadership Preparation. In 2008, she founded Tallgrass Sudbu...