Mutsuko Sugita

Graduate Researcsh Assistant

Mutsuko Sugita is engaged in research field exploring Engaged Buddhism in Conflict Resolution. Her father, brother and relatives are Japanese Buddhist priests as well as mediators in their local communities. She spent most of her life at her Buddhist temple with them and served as his mediation assistant. As a researcher of the CRDC, she traveled to Israel and Palestine and conducted interviews to discover how Eastern Philosophy influenced peacemaking activities in the region. She also worked as an assistant of Dr. Marc Gopin, Director of the CRDC, to make a documentary movie entitled “Unusual pairs.”

Ms. Sugita’s unique religious background coupled with her wide range of field experience in a peace building activities have led her to study the nexus of religion and conflict at all levels of society. She obtained her bachelor's degree in International Relations in Japan including one-year study at the University of Wisconsin in Political Science. Her involvement, as a delegate, in Model United Nations in the US awarded the Honor Mention at the National Model United Nations in NY. With multi-cultural experience from Japan and the U.S., she currently provides integral assistance to revise the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA). Ms. Sugita is involved with the Thailand Project, Open Mind Projects and traveled to Thailand to conduct a fieldwork. At the I CAR, she is involved in interfaith dialogue work and is the founder of the Religion and Conflict working group. She presented her paper at the Conflict Studies Conference at the University of Massachusetts, Boston in 2008