NEWS

【Interview】 Dr. Ashis Nandy

Update:

ICU was "dedicated" by collaboration between American and Japanese people after the end of World War II to pursue the mission of world peace. From ICU's "dedication" in 1953, peace studies have been the core of ICU. What is a role of ICU to pursuing peace studies as the first liberal arts college in Japan?

This history of ICU needs to be respected. At the same time, ICU students need to engage with different concepts of peace and civilizations. ICU students should ask, "What is a peaceful world?" A peaceful world is a just world. There must be no exploitation. ICU has many excellent scholars. I know many of them.

Although there are many approaches to peace, international relations is a dominant discipline in English literature of peace studies. What is your expectation to ICU, where both Japanese and English are common languages of the university?

ICU should engage in long-term dialogue. By dialogue, I mean global dialogue. The Japanese view of peace is one example of it. Japanese culture includes a warrior culture, but it also includes Buddhist traditions such as Zen. ICU should look at not only modern peace but also traditional peace.