Each year, the Rotary Foundation, which is headquartered in the United States, chooses 70 Rotary World Peace Scholars. Two-year master's-level degree programs have been established at the Rotary Centers located at eight universities around the world (International Christian University, Queensland University, Bradford University, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of California at Berkeley and Salvador). These centers offer young persons from around the world the opportunity to study international problems that threaten peace and methods of conflict resolution. The purpose of the program is to cultivate persons who can contribute to creating peace in the world.
Since September 2002, the Rotary Center at International Christian University has enrolled students from around the world who seek to contribute to peace in its Rotary World Peace Scholars program. The program offers the following core courses: Security and Conflict Resolution; Politics and Religions, Development and Environment; and Human Rights.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities are cooperating with the Rotary Center at ICU by providing part of the curriculum for the program. The current group of Rotary World Peace Scholars will come to Hiroshima to participate in the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Seminar, which is designed to teach the facts about the atomic bombings and impart a greater understanding of the desire of Hiroshima for the abolition of nuclear weapons and enduring world peace. Participants will tour the Peace Memorial Museum, listen to A-bomb survivors’ testimonials, hear lectures on the medical and physical effects of the bombings, and meet students from Hiroshima.
