Message for Peace from East Asia: East Asian Language, History, Art, and Empathy

This program will introduce peacebuilding topics in East Asia for K-12 teachers of East Asian languages, social studies, art, and more. This program is formatted as a two-day workshop: Day 1: “Peace Conference: A-bomb Survivor’s Testimony and Symposium,” 8:15 AM-3:30 PM, Saturday, October 2, 2021, and Day 2: “Peace Workshop: Using History to Teach Empathy,” 9 AM-3 PM, Saturday, April 23, 2022.
On Day 1, Mr. Steven Leeper, former Chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, will start the day with a Zoom discussion with four panelists from China, Korea, and Japan to explore various historical views of the A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and today’s peacebuilding actions. Then, Mr. Leeper will invite Ms. Shigeko Sasamori, an A-bomb survivor, to testify and hold a Q&A session by Zoom for the afternoon session.

On Day 2, Ms. Rebecca Irby, Executive Director of the PEAC Institute (PEAC stands for Peace, Education, Art, Communication), will present her lesson plan “Rising Out of the Shadows” and explains how she teaches empathy using history.