On Saturday, October 8, 2011, the 41st Soka University and 27th Soka Women’s College graduation ceremony was held at the Ikeda Auditorium. Student representatives and their guardians, faculty members, administration staff, and donors attended the event. The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held in March this year, but was delayed due to the giant earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

In conjunction with the graduation ceremony, Soka University presented an honorary doctorate to Tu Weiming, Research Professor and Senior Fellow of Harvard University’s Asia Center and Lifetime Professor of Philosophy and founding Dean of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University. Professor Tu then delivered a commemorative lecture on Confucianism and the significance of what it means to be human.

Source: http://www.soka.ac.jp/en/newstopics/2011_1008.html

Prof. Charles Taylor is a philosopher best known for his contributions in political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and the history of philosophy. His contributions to these fields have earned him both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the Templeton Prize. Prof. Taylor is currently a Professor Emeritus at McGill University in Canada and a Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Austria.

Prof. Tu Weiming is the Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies and a Lifetime Professor of Philosophy at Peking University. He is also a Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow of Asia Center at Harvard University. Prof. Tu has been instrumental in developing dialogues among civilizations, Cultural China, reflections on the Enlightenment mentality of the modern West and multiple modernities. He is currently researching the modern transformation of Confucian humanism in East Asia and tapping its spiritual resources for human flourishing in the global community.

Prof. Tu was introduced to the audience by Madam Vishakha Desai, the President of Asia Society. In his address, Prof. Tu Weiming discussed the challenges that Confucianism faces in the contemporary world. He has called for “New Confucian Humanism” to become “a source of inspiration for human flourishing in the twenty-first century” by contributing to the development of a worldwide “culture of peace that emphasizes communication, negotiation, dialogue, and reconciliation.”

Audience responded to Prof. Tu’s insightful and inspiring speech with great enthusiasm. Following his keynote address, Prof. Tu continued with a conversation with Madam Desai; he also answered questions from the audience members.

“Language teachers are ambassadors of the cultures,” said Prof. Tu to educators in the packed grand ballroom.

Harvard’s Dr. Tu Weiming will present “An Interreligious Perspective on Confucian Humanism,” at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 18, in the Fetzer Center’s Putney Auditorium at Western Michigan University. The lecture is open to the public free of charge.

Tu is chair professor of Chinese history and philosophy at Harvard University and Distinguished Lifetime Professor of Philosophy at Peking University. He will present Confucianism as a spiritual humanism that seeks to integrate self, community, nature, and Heaven into a coherent ecumenical vision for human flourishing. He believes Confucian humanism in the 21st century can play a significant role as a mediating theory and practice in the dialogue among world religions.

The lecture will be sponsored by the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies. For more information, write to hige-lightcenter@wmich.edu.

Click here to view a list of upcoming events that prof. Tu is scheduled to attend.

On March 12, 2011 Kapur Surya Foundation and India International Centre convened the commemorative event “The Vision and Legacy of J.C. Kapur: Quest for an Equitable Human Order” at the India International Centre Auditorium. The speakers at this event, chaired by Prof. M.G.K. Menon, were Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, MP, Chairperson, IIC Asia Project; Dr. Vladimir I. Yakunin, Founder President World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations; and Dr. Tu Weiming, Chair, Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy and Confucian Studies, Harvard University, USA; Sr. Professor, Peking University, Beijing, China.

“He was a towering figure in reconfiguring the new world order, a major public intellectual in Asia, and a source of inspiration for us all. I cherished his willingness to share his broad vision with me. I look forward to an opportunity to continue his seminal work on intercivilizational dialogue in Cultural China.” Download full speech by Dr. Tu Weiming

The event was dedicated to the memory of Jagdish Chandra Kapur (1920 – 2010) who passed away on Nov. 19, 2010. Mr. Kapur was an engineer, pioneer of solar and renewable energy, author, futurist, Founder-Chairman, Kapur Surya Foundation and Kapur Solar Farms; Publisher and Editor, World Affairs Journal; Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations.