Complete video speech (1 hour, 5 minutes).

Once you click on the picture, it will take you to the source and bring a static image, on the right you have two option of players, once you select the player the video will play.

The same video is also available at AKDN

The Peterson Lecture given by His Highness the Aga Khan was perhaps his most thought provoking public speech given during this Golden Jubilee visit.  It perhaps ranks as one of the best articulated speech on the importance of education in contemporary times, the role of schools in cultivating the global citizen and the delicate balance between globalism and tribalism.  His Highness has quoted the Quran and the relevance of its message in contemporary times, more frequently than in any speech given in the Western context in recent years.  In his address, he gives a very eloquent rational for the vision of the Aga Khan Academies program and the choice of its curriculum.

Click here for the complete video of the speech.

Posted May 2, 2008 at Brightcove.tv

Link to Bridges TV Network

Earlier: Sabre Arch Salute Video

Golden Jubilee Visit USA

Sabre Salute - Welcoming Ceremony for His Highness the Aga Khan

This link will take you to the source, click on ‘Watch in High Quality’ link at bottom right of the player.

College Station, TX (PRWEB) May 2, 2008 — One of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor guards, the Texas A&M Aggie Corps Of Cadets Ross Volunteer Company, completed a busy April with numerous performances across the state. The Ross Volunteer Company is the official Honor Guard for the Governor of the state of Texas, and, aside from the Cadet Corps itself, is the oldest student organization in the state of Texas.

April 11 - Sabre Arch Salute-Arrival of the Aga Khan - Austin: (more at PRWeb Release)

Earlier related

Golden Jubilee Visit USA

Governor Rick Perry, who was a member of the Texas A&M Aggie Corps Of Cadets, requested the Ross Volunteers to do a sabre arch salute at a special ceremony for the arrival of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of 16 million Ismaili Muslims worldwide. The Ross Volunteer Company played a key role in the elaborate red carpet ceremony to honor the Aga Khan at Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The event signified the first stop in the United States for His Highness on a tour that marked his 50th year as the Aga Khan. Governor Perry has been a long-time supporter and friend of the Ismaili community as Texas is home to tens of thousands of Ismaili Muslims who contribute to the social, economic and cultural fabric of the state.

The Aga Khan, head of Ismaili Muslims, receives applause from International Baccalaureate board chairman Monique Seefried, left, and the rest of the auditorium after speaking to students and educators Friday April 18, 2008, in Atlanta. The Aga Khan, one of the world’s richest men is planning to give away nearly one billion dollars to create academies for underprivileged children in fourteen countries.

Yahoo/AP Photo/John Amis

Golden Jubilee visit to USA

Hussein Rashid who is a PhD candidate in Harvard University’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, analyzes the media coverage of His Highness the Aga Khan and the understanding of religion among the journalists in general. An excellent write-up. Visit the source.

Religion Dispatches

Update: Since the initial publication of this blog post several people have written to me to note that CNN did do a short piece on the Aga Khan’s visit, as did some of the cable news channels. Apologies for missing this piece. However, my basic point remains unchallenged. In a largely positive piece on religion a section is inserted stating that some Muslims don’t consider the Isma’ilis Muslim, putting the discussion in the frame of conflict once more.

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Even with Pope Benedict’s visit to the US last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see some fairly major coverage of the visit of another religious leader, the Aga Khan. He is the head of a Shi’ah community known as the Isma’ilis, who officially have 15-20 million members worldwide. CNN’s 360º Blog ran two pieces: one by Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva and one by Reza Aslan; OnFaith had a piece by Eboo Patel. There was no other national coverage I could find, although local coverage was fairly good, such as this piece from a Houston Chronicle blog.

Aslamshoyeva’s piece focused on the meaning of the Aga Khan as both religious leader and philanthropist (CNN article, AKDN website). It was a moving piece on nature of hope and belief. Aslan’s post focuses mostly on the charitable work of the Aga Khan and asks the key question that immediately came to my mind when I started looking for coverage of the Aga Khan’s visit: “Americans are interested in hearing a major Muslim leader speak of tolerance and cooperation, so why isn’t the media covering the Aga Khan’s visit?” Patel, with his inter-faith interest, focused on the message of Pluralism the Aga Khan espoused, and the role education plays in generating a sense of pluralism amongst people.

All these messages are accurate and necessary, but of the three writers of this event, all are Shi’ah, and two are Isma’ili, followers of the Aga Khan. Looking at that spread, one would think Shi’ah dominate America’s Muslim population, or at least its intellectual landscape. All of these pieces are blog pieces, not one news report among them. The Sunni community is well aware of the works of the Aga Khan and has a great deal of respect for them. Shahed Amanullah, founder of altmuslim, said in an interview, “There are a lot of non-Ismaili Muslims around the world who wish they had a leader that is as organized and as visionary.”

Complete at Religion Dispatches

One way of explaining this lopsided coverage is to think about how religion is covered in general. Hannah Farber, working off of Terry Mattingly, points out that reporters play a mediating role in explaining internal words to an external audience. Even in the event that a message is crafted to an external audience, a reporter must have some understanding of the religious system in order to make it comprehensible to their readership. As we have witnessed since 9/11, knowledge about Islam and Muslims is painfully lacking even amongst some of the most educated people in our society, and religion is generally not a good return on investment in terms of background learning for journalists. As a result, unless the religion is mired in conflict, it does not get covered, a point raised by Pastor Dan. Conflict is easy to understand and frame, with little nuance necessary.

With respect to Islam, the current dominant narrative is that Shi’ah and Sunni have been in conflict for 1400 years and are always trying to kill each other. As I have argued elsewhere, this view of history is untenable, and reads present day concerns back into the past. Even amongst those whom I believe know better, the rhetoric is normative. For example, Aslan says, “The Ismailis are Shiah who broke off from the main Shiite branch of Islam.” The fact that there is a larger number of non-Isma’ili Shi’ah does not make them the main branch. If the central belief of Shi’ism is the belief of Imamah, then the only group with a present, living Imam are the Isma’ilis, making them the main group. The point is that there are many ways to claim superiority, but the reality is most Muslims have lived with various other communities of interpretation. The rhetoric of conflict now permeates our discourse on religion. Once religion is framed in conflict, it must always be presented that way. When a man who leads a large Muslim community, is believed to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad, and who derives his authority from that claim, comes to the US it should be a major news story. Unfortunately, his message of tolerance, peace, pluralism, and education do not fit in the conflict framework. I see people who have much smaller constituencies and less of a legitimate claim to leadership on TV spewing vile rhetoric that gets covered because it fits the frame.

The frame of religion in conflict is one that is not only favored by those who don’t know about the faith, but is also propagated by the extremists within a tradition. The easiest way to draw acolytes to a cause is to convince individuals that they are besieged and need to “circle the wagons.” The Saudi state, hardly the most impoverished people on earth, uses the foil of Iran, or the Crusader Nation, or the Zionist Aggressor, to bind their people to Wahhabi ideology. The logical outgrowth of the ideology was the Taliban and al-Qaeda. By not understanding and portraying how odious these movements are to many Muslims, they contribute to the recruiting causes of these groups. The weak reporting inserts itself into popular discourse making a hatred of Muslims that didn’t exist before seem more real to Muslims. A cycle is created between reporting on religion as a source of conflict and those who want to make religion a source of conflict.

I marvel at the fact that seven years after 9/11 the US media doesn’t understand how complicit it is in supporting this cycle of violence. A short course on Islam may have been a poor ROI before, but now it seems like a necessity. In England, an avowed atheist, writes almost 2 years after the London subway bombings that Islam is “an uplifting and happy faith.” While I don’t expect US journalists to adopt this fawning attitude, I do wish they would educate themselves to educate us. The Aga Khan’s visit just highlights the structural deficiencies in how we talk about religion.

Religion Dispatches

Source: Global Atlanta

Prince Karim Aga Khan, a billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of some 20 million Muslims worldwide, stressed the importance of education in the age of globalization in Atlanta as he helped the International Baccalaureate celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The International Baccalaureate, or IB, has programs for students aged 3-19 at 2,300 participating schools in 126 countries, said Monique Seefried, chair of the IB Board of Governors.

Ms. Seefried, along with IB Director General Jeff Beard, hosted a delegation of educators from around the world April 15-18.  The trip featured visits to local schools and culminated in the annual Peterson Lecture, which this year was delivered by the Aga Khan at North Atlanta High School.

Revered as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and the imam of the minority Shi’a sect of Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan heads the Aga Khan Development Network, which employs nine interrelated agencies to alleviate poverty in underprivileged countries.

Source: Global Atlanta

The 70-year-old leader recently visited many states during the U.S. leg of a 30-country tour that began last July to commemorate his “Golden Jubilee,” 50 years of service in the spiritual office he inherited from his grandfather at the age of 20.    

The Harvard-educated leader was met with cordial applause as he entered a packed auditorium at North Atlanta High School, one of the first schools in Georgia to offer IB programs.  The diverse crowd included Ismaili adherents eager to lay eyes on their spiritual leader, IB students and officials, diplomats and businesspeople.

In the lecture, the Aga Khan stressed tolerance based on the Qur’anic view of humanity’s shared origins as children of God.  He also highlighted education as a gateway to opportunity and prosperity in underdeveloped nations.  

“The International Baccalaureate program incarnates a powerful idea, the confidence that education can reshape the way in which the world thinks about itself,” he said. 

Born in Geneva, the Aga Khan spent his early childhood in Kenya before moving back to Switzerland, where he attended Le Rosey, a prestigious boarding school that now offers IB programs. Like many other international organizations, the IB is headquartered in Geneva.

In his speech, the Aga Khan recalled the infectious advice of a highly educated Czech refugee who took a job coaching at the Swiss school to make ends meet after fleeing his homeland.  While leading the school’s rowing and ice hockey teams, he always sought to instill in his athletes the value of a good education.

When the coach was set to apply for political asylum in the U.S., the Aga Khan wondered aloud how he would subsist.  An education, the coach said, would help him secure employment.

“The moral of the story is clear.  You can have nothing in your pocket and only the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet, but if you have an educated mind, you will be able to seize all the opportunities life offers,” the Aga Khan said.

The Aga Khan, who holds head-of-state status when traveling abroad and is addressed as “Your Highness,” announced the coming establishment of the first Aga Khan Academies in Afghanistan, which will be the first schools in the war-torn nation to offer IB curricula.

The Afghan schools will join a growing network of Aga Khan Academies across South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, which provide educational opportunities to excelling students regardless of their race, gender or religious backgrounds.

The schools represent a critical crossroads in the IB’s role as an organization known for fostering cultural understanding, he said.  

Traditionally implemented in parts of the world with a Judeo-Christian worldview, the IB is shifting into the Muslim world, softening the so-called “Clash of Civilizations” caused by the ignorance with which the Christian and Muslim worlds approach each other, the Aga Khan said.   

Karim Thomas, an IB student during his four years in high school, said the international tinge to his education influenced his decision to work in Afghanistan since his graduation.  He said has seen firsthand the benefits of education in the developing world.

“In Afghanistan, I have experienced the joy on the face of fathers who’ve seen their daughters go to school for the first time…” said Mr. Thomas, whose remarks preceded the Aga Khan.

The Aga Khan also said educators must prepare for unique challenges in an era where increasing globalization brings “myriad blessings and serious risks.” 

The paradox is that nations can now easily establish cross-cultural relationships, but this opportunity carries with it the threat of seeing individual identities dissolve, he said.  And some cultures bristle at globalization’s intrusion and end up on the opposite extreme by responding with isolationism.

These competing forces must be tempered by the savvy global citizens educational programs like the IB can help create, he said.

Before delivering the Peterson Lecture, the Aga Khan was honored at a luncheon hosted by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue at the Governor’s Mansion. 

In February, the University System of Georgia’s board of regents approved a new policy that will allow high school graduates to get college credit for IB courses after passing a test.

Source: Global Atlanta

Golden Jubilee visit to USA

Suntimes News Group

Posted April 25, 2008, meeting occurred April 15

Glenview Village President Kerry Cummins shakes hands with the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, during his April 15 visit to Chicago.

Glenview Village President Kerry Cummings joined Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to welcome the Aga Khan, spritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, to Chicago April 15.

The visit was part of an eight-day visit to the U.S., which also included stops in Texas, California and Georgia. It was planned as part of the Ismaili community’s commemoration of the Aga Khan’s 50th year as the community’s leader.

The sect, who number about 7,000 in the Chicago area, is building a 26,000-square-foot house of worship and community center on 9.3. acres on Shermer Road north of Golf Road.

Cummings and the other leaders met with the Aga Khan at a luncheon sponsored by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the University of Illinois Foundation.

Suntimes News Group

Golden Jubilee visit to United States

The Pope and the Dalai Lama got all the headlines last week, but they weren’t the only international religious leaders visiting the United States.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s 15 million Ismaili Muslims (the community I belong to; read my piece on the Aga Khan on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his Imamat), was also here.

It was the Aga Khan’s first public visit to America in over two decades. He spent time with his followers in California, Illinois, Texas and Georgia, and met with the governors of each of those states as well.

Complete at Washington Post

Please find summary of all posts made during the visit of His Highness the Aga Khan to four states of USA. The posts are compiled in PDF file and in chronological order to the best of our ability and in simplest manner. These blog posts are the combination of media press releases and news out of official websites.

Download here:
Ismailimail Summary His Highness the Aga Khan Visit United States April 2008

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(Picture - left to right Indu Shahani, Monique Seefried and the Aga Khan)

The Peterson lectures were inaugurated in 1989 to commemorate the commitment of Alec Peterson to the IB, as its first director general from 1966–77.

He had been attracted to the “IB project” because it encompassed so much of his own desire for a broad-based education favouring critical thinking skills, community service and an international perspective.

On our 40th Anniversary, at the Annual General Meeting in Atlanta, the Peterson Lecture was delivered by our guest lecturer His Highness the Aga Khan.

Speeches

The Aga Khan’s speech was introduced by Monique Seefried, the Chairman of the IB Board

Read Monique Seefried’s introduction

The Aga Khan’s lecture was titled “Global Education and the Developing World”.

Read the Aga Khan’s speech

http://www.ibo.org/announcements/peterson08_agakhan.cfm

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Leaders of the Ismaili Community from across the United States wave goodbye to His Highness the Aga Khan as he leaves the United States of America. Photo: Zahur Ramji

Saturday, April 19, 2008 - Having visited the states of Texas, California, Illinois and Georgia, His Highness the Aga Khan departed the United States today, concluding his Golden Jubilee visit to the country. Leaders of the USA Ismaili community gathered at the airport to bid their Imam an emotional farewell.

Additional photographs: Texas, California, Illinois, and Georgia. Also see the video of arrival in Austin.

Photographs at AKDN: Georgia, Illinois, California, Texas.

Reference: theismaili.org

Browse all posts made at Ismailimail during the Golden Jubilee visit to United States

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Luncheon Hosted in Honor of the Aga Khan’s 50^th Year as Imam

Photo Album

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue welcomed His Highness the Aga Khan to Georgia today. Governor Perdue hosted a luncheon in honor of the Aga Khan’s Golden Jubilee (50^th year as Imam) at the Governor’s Mansion.

“The Aga Khan is not only a spiritual leader to millions but also a champion for causes benefitting the developing countries of the world,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “His devotion to lifting up others through faith and service is an example to us all.”

The Aga Khan is the 49^th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working to empower communities and individuals to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.

Gov.Georgia.Gov - Related

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AKDN’s nine agencies focus on social, cultural and economic development for all citizens, regardless of gender, origin or religion. The AKDN works in close partnership with many U.S. and international aid agencies. Its underlying ethic is compassion for the vulnerable in society. The AKDN’s annual budget for development activities is in excess of $350 million.

Later today, the Aga Khan will deliver the Peterson Lecture on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of the founding of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) at the North Atlanta High School.

The Aga Khan’s visit to Georgia is a part of an eight day U.S. tour commemorating His Highness’ 50^th year as Imam, which began on July 11, 2007. The Aga Khan has already visited Texas, California and Illinois. Georgia is the last stop on his U.S. visit.

As part of his Golden Jubilee, the Aga Khan is making official visits to more than 30 countries to recognize the longstanding support of governments, multilateral agencies and other partners in the work of the Ismaili Imamat and to set directions for future development initiatives.

For more information on the Aga Khan Development Network, visit http://www.akdn.org.

Gov.Georgia.Gov

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Two pages of super high-quality pictures at the Governor of Georgia’s web-site:
http://photos.gov.georgia.gov/date/2008-04-17/2008-04-18#P-1-15

Click Slideshow at the website for full screen view

http://photos.gov.georgia.gov/date/2008-04-17/2008-04-18#P-1-15

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Imam urges education The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, meets with attendees after his address to international baccalaureate educators and students at North Atlanta High School.

ATLANTA — The Aga Khan, billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of 20 million Ismaili Muslims worldwide, ended an eight-day tour of the U.S. stressing the importance of tolerance and education.

He did so as he announced his initiative to establish schools in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

His trip also included stops in Texas, Illinois and California.

It was part of the Shia Ismaili Muslim commemoration of the Golden Jubilee, which marks the Aga Khan’s 50th year as imam of the religious sect.

The Aga Khan, head of Ismaili Muslims, speaks to students and educators in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

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In a speech Friday at a high school in Atlanta, he sought to raise awareness about the Aga Khan Academies, a $1-billion education initiative to build 18 schools in 14 countries in Africa, Central and South Asia and the Middle East.

The project grew out of a need to develop well-educated, global citizens who would make a difference in their communities, the Aga Khan told the audience.

“Our Academies Program is rooted in the conviction that effective indigenous leadership will be the key to progress in the developing world, and as the pace of change accelerates, it is clear that the human mind and heart will be the central factors in determining social wealth,” he said.

“Too many of those who should be the leaders of tomorrow are being left behind today. And even those students who do manage to get a good education often pursue their dreams in far off places and never go home again.”

The Aga Khan, who was born and educated in Switzerland, is a Harvard-educated businessman who is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

In his capacity as imam, he is also chair of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of private, non-denominational development agencies focused on social, cultural and economic development.

The Aga Khan Academies are an initiative of the network’s Aga Khan Education Services and, under the plan, 18 schools are planned in 14 countries at a cost of about $50 million per school.

Thant’s a commitment of nearly $1 billion.

The first school opened in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2003, and others are planned in India, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Tanzania and Uganda.

The academy curriculum is based on the International Baccalaureate program, which is derived from a program rooted in academics, critical thinking, and a respect and appreciation for cultural diversity.

The program is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Atlanta this week and the Aga Khan addressed the organization as its speaker for the Peterson Lecture, named for the program’s first director general.

Previously rooted in Judeo-Christian communities, the Aga Khan Academies represent the first expansion of the IB curriculum into Muslim cultures.

“Squaring the particular with the global will require great care, wisdom, and even some practical field testing, to ensure that it is really possible to develop a curriculum that responds effectively to both the global and the tribal impulses,” the Aga Khan said.

“The people with whom we will be dealing will present different challenges than before.”

To that end, there will be an emphasis on inclusion, ethics, global economics, world culture, and comparative political systems, the Aga Khan told the crowd of educators, administrators, followers and observers.

“The failure of different peoples to be able to live in peace amongst each other has been a major source of conflict,” he said.

“Pluralism is a value that must be taught … As we work together to bridge the gulf between East and West, between North and South, between developing and developed economies, between urban and rural settings, we will be redefining what it means to be well educated.”

The 70-year-old leader - also known as Prince Karim Aga Khan IV - succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, at age 20 on July 11, 1957, becoming the community’s 49th imam.

The Canadian Press

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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan

“Global Education and the Developing World” “The Peterson Lecture” by His Highness the Aga Khan to the Annual Meeting of the International Baccalaureate, marking its 40th Anniversary Atlanta, Georgia. April 18, 2008

Dr. Monique Seefried, Chairman of the IB Board of Governors
Members of the Board of Governors
Mr. Jeffrey Beard, Director General of the IB
Educators and Students from the IB Community
Distinguished Guests

What a great privilege it is for me to be with you today - I have looked forward to this gathering for a long time. And I am particularly grateful to Monique Seefried for her generous introduction, and for so beautifully describing both the local and the global context in which we meet.

This is a particularly significant occasion for me, for several reasons.

It is significant of course because it marks the 40th anniversary of what I regard as one of the great seminal institutions of our era - the International Baccalaureate program. I say that because the IB program incarnates a powerful idea, the confidence that education can reshape the way in which the world thinks about itself.

I am deeply honored to be giving this particular Lecture - the Peterson Lecture, as it, too, has a great legacy. It fittingly celebrates the life and work of Alec Peterson, whose intellectual and moral leadership have been central to this organization and to all whom it has influenced.

I was humbled when I was first invited to be the Peterson Lecturer. That sense of deference grew, I must confess, as I began to look at the distinguished list of former Lecturers. And then I took one more step, and looked at what these people have said through the years - and I was even more deeply impressed by the responsibility of this assignment.

The Peterson Lectures - collected together - would make a wonderful reading list, for an excellent University course, on the topic of international education. After looking through them, I wondered if there was anything left to say on the subject! But if anyone should ever incorporate these lectures into a university syllabus, then perhaps my remarks today could appropriately be placed under the heading of “optional additional reading!”

Finally, this occasion has special meaning for me because it comes, as you may know, on my 50th anniversary as spiritual leader, or Imam, of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. We are thus celebrating both a fortieth and a fiftieth anniversary today - and both provide important opportunities to connect our past with our future, our roots with our dreams.

I came upon a rather striking surprise in looking through the texts of earlier Peterson Lectures. Not just one - but two of those addresses in recent years have quoted my grandfather! It was from him, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, that I inherited my present role in 1957. I also inherited from him a deep concern for the advancement of education - especially in the developing world. These two topics - education and development - have been at the heart of my own work over the past fifty years, and they will form the central theme of my comments today.

Very early after the end of the second world war, my brother and I were sent to school in Switzerland, Le Rosey, and after a few years at that school, a new coach for rowing became part of the school and we were told that he would also coach the ice hockey team during the winter term. His name was Vaclav Rubik, not the one of Rubik’s cube fame but rather, like the famous cube itself, a challenging influence. He was also one of the most talented and intelligent sportsmen that I have ever met. He was in the Czech national ice hockey team which has been one of the best in the world, and he was also in the national Eights and Fours without Coxswain. His wife was in the Czech national field hockey team. So Le Rosey was extremely fortunate to have two exceptional athletes available for coaching. But there was another dimension to Vaclav Rubik. He had a doctorate in Law, and he and his wife were political refugees who had fled on foot all the way from Czechoslovakia to Switzerland. He was a charismatic individual, and after only a couple of years of training he succeeded in putting together an under-18 crew of Fours, which won just about every race it competed in, including the Swiss National Championship for all ages.

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We used to spend long hours in buses driving from one rowing competition to another, and from one ice hockey match to another. I remember asking him what he intended to do, as I could not see a man of such quality remaining indefinitely as a sports coach in a small Swiss school. His answer was that he had applied for acceptance as a political refugee to the United States, and that as soon as he would be allowed to come here he would do so. I asked him how he would earn his living once he came to the United States, as I was certain that he would not want to continue his career as a sports coach, and his answer has remained in my mind ever since. He said, my wife and I fled from Czechoslovakia with nothing, other than the clothes on our back and the shoes on our feet, but I have had a good education and when I arrive in the United States, that is what will enable me to obtain the type of employment I would wish. Once he left Le Rosey, I somewhat lost touch with him, and the last thing I heard was that he had become a very senior executive in the Singer Sewing Machine Company.

The moral of the story is clear – you can have nothing in your pocket, and only the clothes and the shoes you wear, but if you have a well educated mind, you will be able to seize the opportunities life offers you, and start all over again.

I suspect that many members of the Ismaili Community, like other Asians who were expelled by Idi Amin from Uganda, and who made successful new lives in other parts of the world, would tell you the same story.

From its very beginnings, the International Baccalaureate Organization has understood this central truth. But as we move into a new century, I would like to combine my words of congratulation and commendation, with some words of inquiry and challenge.

What is the eventual place and purpose of the IB in developing societies - and in a Muslim context? What can those worlds contribute to the IB community? And how can institutions which are rooted in different cultural traditions best work together to bridge worlds that have too often been widely separated?

As a point of departure in addressing these questions, I would turn to those words from my Grandfather which were quoted in two earlier Peterson Lectures. He included them in a speech he gave as President of the League of Nations in Geneva some 70 years ago. They come originally from the Persian poet, Sadi, who wrote:
“The children of Adam, created of the self-same clay, are members of one body. When one member suffers, all members suffer, likewise. O Thou, who art indifferent to the suffering of the fellow, thou art unworthy to be called a man.”

You will readily understand why such words seem appropriate for a Peterson Lecture. They speak to the fundamental value of a universal human bond- a gift of the Creator - which both requires and validates our efforts to educate for global citizenship.

I would also like to quote an infinitely more powerful statement about the unity of mankind, because it comes directly from the Holy Quran, and which I would ask you to think about. The Holy Quran addresses itself not only to Muslims, but to the entirety of the human race, when it says:
“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from one single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.”

These words reflect a deeply spiritual insight - A Divine imperative if you will - which, in my view, should under gird our educational commitments. It is because we see humankind, despite our differences, as children of God and born from one soul, that we insist on reaching beyond traditional boundaries as we deliberate, communicate, and educate internationally. The IB mission statement puts it extremely well: “to encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”

The IB community has thought long and hard about what it means for students to become powerfully aware of a wider world - and to deal effectively with both its bewildering diversity and its increasing interdependence. The IB program has wrestled vigorously with one of the basic conundrums of the age - how to take account of two quite different challenges.

The first challenge is the fact that the world is increasingly a “single” place - a wondrous web of global interaction cutting across the lines of division and separation which have characterized most of its history. This accelerating wave of interdependence is something we first defined as “internationalization” when the IB program was launched 40 years ago. We refer to it now as “globalization.” It brings with it both myriad blessings and serious risks - not the least of which is the danger that globalization will become synonymous with homogenization.

Why would homogenization be such a danger? Because diversity and variety constitute one of the most beautiful gifts of the Creator, and because a deep commitment to our own particularity is part of what it means to be human. Yes, we need to establish connecting bonds across cultures, but each culture must also honour a special sense of self.

The downside of globalization is the threat it can present to cultural identities.

But there is also a second great challenge which is intensifying in our world. In some ways it is the exact opposite of the globalizing impulse. I refer to a growing tendency toward fragmentation and confrontation among peoples. In a time of mounting insecurity, cultural pride can turn, too often, into an endeavour to normatise one’s culture. The quest for identity can then become an exclusionary process - so that we define ourselves less by what we are FOR and more by whom we are AGAINST. When this happens, diversity turns quickly from a source of beauty to a cause of discord.

I believe that the coexistence of these two surging impulses - what one might call a new globalism on one hand and a new tribalism on the other - will be a central challenge for educational leaders in the years ahead. And this will be particularly true in the developing world with its kaleidoscope of different identities.

As you may know, the developing world has been at the centre of my thinking and my work throughout my lifetime. And I inherited a tradition of educational commitment from my grandfather. It was a century ago that he began to build a network of some 300 schools in the developing world the Aga Khan Education Services - in addition to founding Aligarh University in India.

The legacy which I am describing actually goes back more than a thousand years, to the time when our forefathers, the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs of Egypt, founded Al-Azhar University and the Academy of Knowledge in Cairo. For many centuries, a commitment to learning was a central element in far-flung Islamic cultures. That commitment has continued in my own Imamat through the founding of the Aga Khan University and the University of Central Asia and through the recent establishment of a new Aga Khan Academies Program.
And this is where your and our paths meet.

As you have heard, the curriculum of our Academies is centered on the IB program. We hope that the network of Aga Khan Academies will become an effective bridge for extending the IB Program more widely into the developing world.

Each of you knows well the IB side of this bridge. I thought I might add just a few words about the Academies side of the bridge, and about my purpose in initiating this international network of high quality schools.

Our Academies Program is rooted in the conviction that effective indigenous leadership will be the key to progress in the developing world, and as the pace of change accelerates, it is clear that the human mind and heart will be the central factors in determining social wealth.

Yet in too much of the developing world, the capacity to realise the potential of the human resource base is still sadly limited. Too many of those who should be the leaders of tomorrow are being left behind today. And even those students who do manage to get a good education often pursue their dreams in far off places - and never go home again. The result is a widening gap between the leadership these communities need – and the leadership their educational systems deliver.

For much of human history, leaders have been born into their roles, or have fought their way in – or have bought their way in. But in this new century - a time of unusual danger and stirring promise, it is imperative that aristocracies of class give way to aristocracies of talent – or to use an even better term – to meritocracies. Is it not a fundamental concept of democracy itself, that leadership should be chosen on the basis of merit?

Educating for leadership must imply something more than the mere developmennt of rote skills. Being proficient at rote skills is not the same thing as being educated. And training that develops skills, important as they may be, is a different thing from schooling in the art and the science of thinking.

The temptation to inculcate rather than to educate is understandably strong among long frustrated populations. In many such places, public emotions fluctuate between bitter impatience and indifferent skepticism - and neither impatience nor indifference are favorable atmospheres for encouraging reasoned thought.

But in an age of accelerating change, when even the most sophisticated skills are quickly outdated, we will find many allies in the developing world who are coming to understand that the most important skill anyone can learn is the ability to go on learning.

In a world of rapid change, an agile and adaptable mind, a pragmatic and cooperative temperament, a strong ethical orientation - these are increasingly the keys to effective leadership. And I would add to this list a capacity for intellectual humility which keeps one’s mind constantly open to a variety of viewpoints and which welcomes pluralistic exchange.

These capacities, over the longer term, will be critically important to the developing world. They happen to be the same capacities which programs like the IB - and the Aga Khan Academies - are designed to elicit and inspire.

The Academies have a dual mission: to provide an outstanding education to exceptional students from diverse backgrounds, and to provide world-class training for a growing corps of inspiring teachers.

At these 18 Academies, each educating between 750 to 1200 primary and secondary students, we anticipate having one teacher for every seven students, and we will place enormous emphasis on recruiting, training, and compensating them well. We hope they will become effective role models for other teachers in their regions.

To this end, we expect within the next year or so to open new Professional Development Centres for teacher education in India, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Similar planning is underway in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Tanzania and Uganda. These Professional Development Centres will operate before we open the doors to students.

In sum, our strategy begins with good teaching. We must first teach the teachers.

As the Academies open, one-by-one, they will feature merit-based entry, residential campuses, and dual-language instruction. This language policy exemplifies our desire to square the particular with the global. English will enable graduates to participate fully on an international stage, while mother-tongue instruction will allow students to access the wisdom of their own cultures.

Squaring the particular with the global will require great care, wisdom, and even some practical field testing, to ensure that it really is possible to develop a curriculum that responds effectively to both the global and the tribal impulses. While this will be a feat in itself, it will also be important to relate well to highly practical concerns such as the nature of each country’s national university entrance exams, and the the human resources required by each country’s multi-year development plans.

The Academies have given much thought to the components that we would describe as global in our curriculum. We intend to place special emphasis on the value of pluralism, the ethical dimensions of life, global economics, a broad study of world cultures (including Muslim Civilizations) and comparative political systems. Experienced IB teachers have already been helping us to integrate these important areas of focus into the Academies curriculum.

Many students will also study for at least a year in other parts of the Academy network, outside their home countries. And of course we have stipulated that our program should qualify our students for the International Baccalaureate diploma. Faculty too will have the opportunity to live in new countries, learn new languages and engage in new cultures.

You may be asking yourselves on what bases the Aga Khan Education Services and the Academies Program have selected new subjects to be added to the Academies curriculum, and I thought it might be useful to illustrate that to you.

With regard to pluralism, it has been our experience that in a very large number of countries in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East, and elsewhere, the failure of different peoples to be able to live in peace amongst each other has been a major source of conflict. Experience tells us that people are not born with the innate ability nor the wish to see the Other as an equal individual in society. Pride in one’s separate identity can be so strong that it obscures the instrinsic value of other identities. Pluralism is a value that must be taught.

With regard to the issue of ethics, we see competent civil society as a major contributor to development, particularly where democracies are weak, or where governments have become dysfunctional. We are therefore concerned with the quality of ethics in all components of civil society, and reject the notion that the absence of corruption or fraud in government is anywhere near sufficient, to ensure to every individual a rigorous and clean enabling environment. Fraud in medicine, fraud in education, fraud in financial services, fraud in property rights, fraud in the exercise of law enforcement or in the courts, are risks which have a dramatic effect on peoples’ development. This is especially true in rural environments where the majority of the peoples of the developing world live, but where fraud is often neither reported nor corrected, but simply accepted as an inevitable condition of life.

Educating for global economics will also be essential to ensure that the failed economic systems of the past are replaced. But this must not mean a simplistic acceptance of the imbalances and inequities associated with today’s new global economy. We need to develop a broad consensus which focuses on creating a global economic environment which is universally fair.

Our program will also teach about world cultures. Inter-cultural conflicts inevitably grow out of intercultural ignorance - and in combating ignorance we also reduce the risk of conflict.

Finally, we want to educate about comparative political systems, so that more and more people in the developing world will be able to make competent value judgements about their Constitutions, their political systems, and how they can best develop democratic approaches which are well tailored to their needs. Public referenda, to sanction new Constitutions, for example, make little sense when they call for judgments from people who do not understand the questions they are being asked, nor the alternatives they should be considering.

These planned subject areas share two characteristics: They all impact a large number of countries across the continents of our world, and they address problems that will take many decades to resolve. And, while the Academies have made reasonable progress in defining the broad areas of the curriculum, I must be frank in saying that the more tribal subjects, specific to individual countries, or perhaps regions, are areas where a great deal of work remains to be done, and where in fact we should expect to go through a prudent step-by-step process - cutting the cloth as each individual situation requires.

What we hope to create, in sum, is a network of 18 educational laboratories, all of them sharing a common overriding purpose, but each one learning from the others particular experiences.

The first Aga Khan Academy opened in Kenya four years ago, and the first cohort of IB Diploma graduates completed their studies last June. The quality of their academic work, including their success on the IB examinations, along with their records of community service, make us optimistic about the future.

As we move into that future, we would like to collaborate with the International Baccalaureate movement in a challenging, but inspiring new educational adventure. Together, we can help reshape the very definition of a well educated global citizen. And we can begin that process by bridging the learning gap which lies at the heart of what some have called a Clash of Civilizations, but which I have always felt was rather a Clash of Ignorances.

In the years ahead, should we not expect a student at an IB school in Atlanta to know as much about Jomo Kenyatta or Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a student in Mombasa or Lahore knows about Atlanta’s great son, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.? Should a Bangladeshi IB student reading the poems of Tagore at the Aga Khan Academy in Dhaka not also encounter the works of other Nobel Laureates in Literature such as the Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk or America’s William Faulkner or Toni Morrison?

Should the study of medieval architecture not include both the Chartres Cathedral in France and the Mosque of Djenne in Mali? And shouldn’t IB science students not learn about Ibn al-Haytham, the Muslim scholar who developed modern optics, as well as his predecessors Euclid and Ptolemy, whose ideas he challenged.

As we work together to bridge the gulf between East and West, between North and South, between developing and developed economies, between urban and rural settings, we will be redefining what it means to be well educated.

Balancing the universal and the particular is an age old challenge - intellectually and practically. But it may well become an even more difficult challenge as time moves on and the planet continues to shrink. It is one thing, after all, to talk about cultural understanding when “the Other” is living across the world. It is often a different matter when the “Other” is living across the street.

I admire the IB organization’s desire to take on the cultural challenges of our time, to move into parts of the world and areas of society where it has been less active in the past. But we all should be clear, as we embark on such projects, that the people with whom we will be dealing will present different challenges than before. As we choose our targets of opportunity, we should examine the environments and consider carefully the changes which can make these programs most relevant to the future.

Some people tell us that globalization is an inevitable process. That may be true in certain areas of activity - but there is nothing inevitable about globalizing educational approaches and standards. Conceptualising a global examination system is one of the most difficult intellectual endeavours I can imagine - though it should also be one of the most exciting. The intellectual stimulation of working on such a project could keep the world’s best educators engaged for decades. That task may be more feasible, however, because of the head start which the IB organization has already made in thinking about a global curriculum. Your IB experience, independent of the Aga Khan Academies, as well as your Peterson lectures through the years offer an excellent foundation for that process.

As the IB moves beyond the Judeo-Christian cultures where it is most experienced, it will have to make educators in other areas of the world into its newest stakeholders. This will probably mean developing more explicit expressions of a cosmopolitan ethic, founded if possible in universal human values. That may well be a progressive, ever evolving process - one that will be increasingly inclusive but may never be complete.

What would it mean for example for the IB program to work in largely rural societies -where there have never been the resources or incentives to support serious and sustained education? What would it mean to apply the concepts of critical thinking and individual judgment in societies which are steeped in habitual deference to age and authority, to rules and to rituals.

What would it require for an organization which is deeply rooted in the Western humanist tradition to speak with relevance in profoundly non-Western cultural settings? And how should we go about the challenges of moral education - growing out of universal values -in settings where religious and ideological loyalties are particularly intense.

I ask these questions not because I have ready answers to them - but because I think the posing of such questions will be essential to our progress. I ask them not to discourage you from reaching out - but rather to encourage you - as you do reach out - to do so with a full understanding of the risks and the strains that you will inevitably encounter.

I believe we can find answers to these questions. They may not be full and complete and perfect answers, but there at least will be initial answers, tentative answers, working answers. And each step along the way will teach us more.

What is essential is that we search.

In the final analysis, the great problem of humankind in a global age will be to balance and reconcile the two impulses of which I have spoken: the quest for distinctive identity and the search for global coherence.What this challenge will ultimately require of us, is a deep sense of personal and intellectual humility, an understanding that diversity itself is a gift of the Divine, and that embracing diversity is a way to learn and to grow - not to dilute our identities but to enrich our self-knowledge.

What is required goes beyond mere tolerance or sympathy or sensitivity - emotions which can often be willed into existence by a generous soul. True cultural sensitivity is something far more rigorous, and even more intellectual than that. It implies a readiness to study and to learn across cultural barriers, an ability to see others as they see themselves. This is a challenging task, but if we do that, then we will discover that the universal and the particular can indeed be reconciled. As the Quran states: “God created male and female and made you into communities and tribes, so that you may know one another.” (49.13) It is our differences that both define us and connect us.

I am confident that the IB program will continue to succeed as it extends its leadership into new arenas in the decades ahead. But as that happens, one key variable will be the spirit in which we approach these new engagements.

There will be a strong temptation for us to regard these new frontiers as places to which we can bring some special gift of accumulated knowledge and well seasoned wisdom. But I would caution against such an emphasis. The most important reason for us to embrace these new opportunities lies not so much in what we can bring to them as in what we can learn from them.

Thank you very much.

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Dr Monique Seefried’s Introduction 2008 Peterson Lecture 18 April 2008

Your Highness the Aga Khan;
Members of the Consular Corps;
representatives of the Ismaili community and the government of Georgia;
representatives of universities and IB World Schools worldwide;
attendees of the Global Language Convention viewing this Lecture via simulcast;
teachers and students of North Atlanta High School, the hosts of this special meeting,
members of IB Georgia Schools Association,
IB Board and staff members,
ladies and gentlemen,
friends and colleagues,
my warmest welcome to this 2008 Peterson Lecture.

The fact that this year’s Peterson Lecture is being held in Atlanta, and in an IB World School at that, is of special significance, both to me personally and to the IB.

My adopted city of Atlanta, as many of you know, is where my children were raised and educated, where I have for many years been engaged with Emory University and the Carlos Museum, the Atlanta International School, and where I founded the Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education (CASIE) here to promote multi-language programmes and international understanding in K-12 schools in the United States. Over the years I have been witness to the growth of the IB in Atlanta and Georgia as more and more students of different ages and backgrounds have gained access to the quality and values of IB programmes. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the nearby schools, I invite you to visit the exhibition of student work later on during the reception, and talk to some of the students who have come along.

In previous years of course we have held the Peterson Lecture in some historic locations; including the Château de Coppet and the International Conference Centre in Geneva; but hosting it on this occasion in an IB World School, and an IB World School in Atlanta, is a valuable reminder of what the IB is really all about: IB students and the impact that they are making, the impact they will make, on the world around them.

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Looking at the banners and publications around you, you will have realized that this year, 2008, is also the 40th anniversary of the creation of the IB Diploma Programme. We are honoured to have here with us today various pioneers and contributors to the IB, in the early years when it started out as the “diploma project” and was taught in a handful of schools, and then growing and expanding through the years to a point where we have three programmes covering K-12 being taught to over half a million students in over 2,300 schools in 126 countries around the world; I offer a special word of welcome to the former director general Roger Peel and president of the Council of Foundation Greg Crafter here present, as well as former members of governance, management and heads of schools who have travelled considerable distances to be here with us and celebrate this important event. I also would like to give a very special thank you to North Atlanta High School, its staff as well as its IB and ROTC students for hosting us here today as well as the IB Georgia Association, and the 40 schools that have turned this event into a real celebration and have prepared an exhibition for us all to see what an IB education can inspire them to do.

Since this is the fortieth anniversary of the IB, and we are in Atlanta, let us travel back to the city in 1968. The United States, the world, is witnessing the turmoil of friction and unrest while looking to an uncertain future. Atlanta is a segregated city in a segregated country. Most entrenched of all is the segregation of education - the unjust law that kept young people separate from one another in schools. And along comes Atlanta-born Martin Luther King, Jr., the harbinger of hope for millions of Americans. 1968 is the year he is assassinated, but not before he changes the face of the world. Martin Luther King’s philosophy of non-violence was partly influenced by the work of Mahatma Gandhi; and he was also interested in Gandhi’s theories about the need for education to be based on the fundamental assumption of the goodness of human beings and an awareness of the impact of all actions on oneself, society and nature. Martin Luther King showed a lifelong love of learning through formal education, entering Morehouse College at the young age of fifteen and culminating in his doctoral studies at Boston University where he became a Doctor of Philosophy. Education was so important in Dr. King’s life.
1968 is the year that the IB is founded; by a small group of resolute, forward-looking men and women searching for international peace, searching for the means to educate young people to become the next harbingers of hope. Men and women who had lived through the world wars and knew that children were the only hope. People of vision.

Thanks to their vision we can offer young people today the gift of a high quality IB education; an education that derives its quality from its values as well as from its high standards, high standards that can be reached by anyone who is motivated. We all know that motivation may be intrinsic, but so often it comes from motivated teachers, teachers who love what they teach, care so much for their students that they are able to transmit to them the love for what they teach, the love for learning. The IB teachers are at the core of the IB success, they are the ones instilling in our students the knowledge and the values that will allow them to be builders in the world of tomorrow and to transmit the message of peace and understanding that is so paramount in an IB education.

One of the mechanisms available to them and their students is the IB community theme of “sharing our humanity”. Not only do students in IB World Schools learn from one another in their classrooms - as an example of school practice - but also from fellow students located in any of 126 countries around the world through the IB community theme website; learning about topics such as global poverty, peace and conflict and the digital divide.

Among those IB students, we already have and will have soon many more motivated students from a network of Aga Khan Academies, world-class schools spread across part of the developing world. These day and boarding schools, 18 are in the pipeline right now, are welcoming students of all backgrounds and faiths, regardless of their financial abilities in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. At the head of this remarkable initiative is His Highness the Aga Khan, our esteemed Peterson Lecture speaker today.

An IB education is an extraordinary gift, and I should not be the one speaking about what it means. Only IB students can describe it. You will see for yourself at the end of this lecture in meeting IB students and seeing their work during the reception that follows this lecture, and I have asked an IB graduate, Karim Thomas, before I introduce His Highness to you, to tell you what the IB has meant to him. He can speak about the IB from personal experience: Karim, would you mind coming to the podium?

I feel so extremely honoured to welcome His Highness to speak at this 2008 Peterson Lecture, during a visit to the USA that commemorates His Golden Jubilee Year. To have him find the time to speak to us today speaks so highly about his commitment to education and his respect for the IB. Before he comes to the podium, allow me to introduce Him to you.

His Highness the Aga Khan became Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims on July 11, 1957 at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan. He is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (God’s peace be his) through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter. The Aga Khan was born on December 13, 1936, in Geneva and spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, and then attended for nine years Le Rosey School in Switzerland. Le Rosey is now an IB school and its headmaster, Michael Robert Gray, is with us via simulcast from the Global Language Conference where he just finished, very appropriately, presenting a session entitled: Boarding School Babel: A Model for a Multilingual International Learning Environment. After studying at le Rosey, His Highness graduated from Harvard University in 1959 with a BA Honors Degree in Islamic history.

Like his grandfather Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan before him, the Aga Khan has, since assuming the office of Imamat in 1957, been concerned about the well-being of all Muslims, particularly in the face of the challenges of rapid historical changes. Today, the Ismailis live in some 25 countries, mainly in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as in North America and Western Europe. Over the four decades since the present Aga Khan became Imam, there have been major political and economic changes in most of these areas. He has adapted the complex system of administering the Ismaili Community, pioneered by his grandfather during the