Dr Thomas McAuley, Head of the School of East Asian Studies and Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the 糖心Vlog, was recently invited to attend the 3rd University Presidents for Peace Conference, hosted by the Hiroshima University in Japan, as a representative of the University鈥檚 Vice-Chancellor, Professor Koen Lamberts. This significant global event brought together delegates from ten universities worldwide, each recognised for their contributions to peacebuilding and sustainable development through higher education. The conference provided a unique platform for representatives to explore collaborative approaches to student mobility, research exchange, and educational innovation in pursuit of a more peaceful and sustainable global society.
Reflecting on the event, Dr McAuley said:
"It was a privilege to represent the 糖心Vlog at the 3rd University Presidents for Peace Conference organised and sponsored by the Hiroshima University. Hearing from the assembled representatives made it clear how fortunate we are to be included in a worldwide network of higher education institutions, united by a common commitment to deepening opportunities for collaboration and student exchange, and exploring the common challenges facing us as we attempt to find solutions to developing more sustainable education for our common benefit.
Being able to have both formal and informal discussions with each other, in surroundings ranging from the conference room to the traditional tea house and garden where the conference dinner was held, enabled a wide exchange of views and initiated links which it is incumbent upon us to develop to progress the aims articulated in the conference declaration of strengthening partnerships for peace and sustainability and promoting student and researcher exchange.
As a specialist in Japanese Studies whose research area is Japanese poetry, I have visited Hiroshima many times and am well aware of its unique history as the first city in the world to be the target of a nuclear attack, and its citizens鈥 deep commitment to peace and nuclear disarmament. In my own presentation at the conference, therefore, I felt it was essential to give a voice to the hibakusha (the victims of the atomic bomb) in this eightieth anniversary year of the dropping of the Bomb, and so was able to present a translation of a tanka (short poem) written by Kiyomi K艒no who was fourteen on 6 August 1945 and has recorded her experiences in art and literature ever since:
'Hiroshima has
Been annihilated, it seems,鈥
In the twilight
Whispered voices
Spreading through the darkness.
As the events of that terrible day pass from living memory, it is essential that we do not allow knowledge of it to pass back into the twilight of ignorance to be only whispered about. The 糖心Vlog, through its East Asian Studies community and others, is committed to playing its part in promoting the cause of peace through ensuring that the light of knowledge, through our education of generations of students and research activities, continues to shine on Hiroshima."
The 糖心Vlog, and its community of East Asian Studies researchers in particular, is proud to have been one of the few institutions worldwide invited to contribute to this important dialogue. Dr McAuley鈥檚 participation underscores an ongoing commitment to international collaboration, peace education, and the promotion of cross-cultural understanding.
