Lessons from Hiroshima: Cultivating Mindful Peace Leadership

Barger Leadership Institute is committed to nurturing leaders who will promote peace, compassion, dignity, and well-being in their communities. In that spirit, we are thrilled to host a screening of the award-winning documentary "A Vow from Hiroshima," featuring remarks from producer Mitchie Takeuchi.

The Vow From Hiroshima is an intimate portrait of Setsuko Thurlow, a passionate survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb in Hiroshima. At 13 years old, Setsuko was miraculously pulled out of a fiery building after the bomb was dropped, unable to save her other 27 classmates who were burned alive. The experience shaping her life forever, she kept a pledge to her friends - that no one should ever again experience the same horrible fate. Her moving story is told through the lens of her friendship with second-generation survivor Mitchie Takeuchi, through her decades of activism, to the current moment, achieving her dream of a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.

Barger Leadership Institute is committed to nurturing leaders who will promote peace, compassion, dignity, and well-being in their communities. 

This symposium centers on the voices and lessons of Hibakusha peace activists to inspire ethical leadership, compassion, and sustainable action. The panelists have developed pedagogical interventions informed by the experience of Hiroshima and the narratives of Hibakusha peace activists to promote the need for mindful peace education.

Symposium Panelists:

• Ram Mahalingam, Barger Leadership Institute Professor, Department of Psychology, Director, Barger Leadership Institute
• Ray Matsumiya, Director, Oleander Initiative
• Kathleen Sullivan, Director, Hibakusha Stories
• Mitchie Takeuchi, Producer, Writer, Speaker, Activist

Symposium Moderator:

Dr. Connie Tingson Gatuz, Associate Vice Provost, Student Life, University of Michigan