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In This Issue
Yalman Seminar
Human Connection
Chandra Muzaffar

May 2009
BRC E-Newsletter

The Boston Research Center e-newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with our activities in support of peace, learning, and dialogue.
 
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BRC Seminar Celebrates Nur Yalman-Daisaku Ikeda Dialogue, "A Passage to Peace"


Nur Yalman 09

On February 19, the BRC hosted a seminar celebrating the English-language publication of the Nur Yalman-Daisaku Ikeda dialogue, A Passage to Peace: Global Solutions from East and West. Joining Professor Yalman (above), a noted social anthropologist, were several of his Harvard University colleagues, including Shahab Ahmed, Harvey Cox, Leila Ahmed, William Graham, and Noah Feldman. During a spirited two-hour discussion, the assembled scholars explored the challenges of pursuing dialogue in a world marked by severe divisions of power and ideology.

Read an interview with Professor Yalman called "Empathy Is What Makes Us Human"

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The Quest for Human Connection in the Age of "Virtualization"
One component of the BRC's inquiry for 2009, Humanizing Our Lives, Humanizing Our World, is an investigation into those aspects of modern life that conspire against the nurturing of core human qualities such as empathy, connection, and compassion. In his 2004 Peace Proposal to the UN, "Inner Transformation: Creating a Global Groundswell for Peace," BRC founder Daisaku Ikeda builds on John Dewey's concept of public identity to show how these core human qualities can be strengthened in the face of "virtualization."

Daisaku Ikeda on the quest for human connection


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From the Archives: Chandra Muzaffar Explores Religious Perspectives on the World Economy
Chandra MuzaffarPerhaps because religions concern themselves with those aspects of life that are not so easily quantifiable, the religious perspective is usually missing from economic analysis. The BRC's 2002 title Subverting Greed: Religious Perspectives on the Global Economy was intended, at least in part, as a corrective to this state of affairs. As co-editor (with Paul Knitter) of this multi-author volume, Chandra Muzaffar wrote a conclusion in which he explores a range of religious and spiritual values, principles, and ideals that can add substance to our discussion of global systems. Dr. Muzaffar is a Malaysian scholar and president of the International Movement for a Just World.

Read an excerpt from Dr. Muzaffar's Conclusion to Subverting Greed

Go here for an interview with Dr. Muzaffar conducted for PBS's Frontline in the aftermath of 9/11



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