Seminars

Drawing on Bahá’í Experience in Education as a Classroom Teacher

The Bahá’í community has gained significant experience in the field of education. How might we translate some of the insights gained into our work as K-12 teachers and share them with our colleagues and others? The organizer of this seminar is drafting a textbook for teachers that incorporates some of these insights, along with coherent ideas from philosophy and science. Over the course of the seminar, we will review a draft of the textbook—which, together with a selection of quotations, will constitute pre-reading. Participant feedback will help refine the draft before its publication. The seminar will open a space to think deeply about how to shape our teaching in light of science and religion, to critically yet fairly analyze contemporary educational discourse, and to develop our capacity to contribute to conversations about education with our students, their families, and our colleagues and administrators.

Facilitators: Ilya Zrudlo

Apply

Exploring the “Crisis of Identity” in the Health Field

The concepts of oneness and unity are fundamental within the Bahá’í Faith and have tremendous implications for a society plagued by a crisis of identity. In its 18 January 2019 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, The Universal House of Justice notes that “Humanity is gripped by a crisis of identity as various peoples and groups struggle to define themselves, their place in the world, and how they should act”. It further highlights, in its 1 November 2021 message to the Bahá’ís of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that this crisis lies at the heart of divisions and prejudices that exist in society today.

In the health field, numerous professionals trained in various disciplines and domains exist, and while the underlying goal of most professionals is to improve the health and well-being of people and communities, immense challenges inhibit many from engaging in this noble aspiration. Polarizing identities furthered by lack of trust between professional bodies, artificial power dynamics, dissonance between capacity to serve and politically defined domains of practice, alongside deep, pervasive, and unresolved prejudice, are among some of the challenges that health professionals experience. These challenges can hinder willingness to engage in multiple disciplinary work, despite how necessary it has become. As the House has noted, “this splintering into divergent interest groups has weakened the cohesion of society itself.” 

In this thematic seminar, we aim to explore the relationships that exist in the health field and their evolution, the divisiveness that exists across systems and processes, and subsequently, how the Light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation can support a reimagining of present-day relationships in healthcare. In so doing, we hope to build our collective capacity to read reality and engage in discourses around this topic through a lens of appreciative, constructive inquiry.

Facilitators: Shawheen James, Maryam Gilpatrick, Nisha Kansal, Anish K. Arora

Apply

Examining Discourses on Mental Health

This seminar is designed for participants engaged directly within the fields of mental health or education, with priority given to professionals or graduate students in the fields. The seminar’s  purpose is to “enhance the abilities" of the participants to explore opportunities within professional or academic fields related to mental health, “to examine the forces operating in society,” and “introduce relevant aspects of the teachings within the discourses prevalent in whatever social space he or she is present.” Participants will study, in a rigorous and uplifting environment, current discourses within the fields of mental health and explore the following questions:

1. What do current discourses say about the attainment of psychological well-being?
2. In what spaces are these discourses unfolding and with what fundamental questions are thinkers in the field currently grappling? 
3. What experience have we gained in learning how to “correlate the teachings with modern thought, including the identification of similarities and distinctions between the teachings and contemporary social constructs”? How can we build on these accomplishments?

Facilitators: Ravi Starr, Christian Smith, Yalda Ravanbakhsh

Apply

Rethinking Institutional Engagement with Indigenous Knowledge: Moving from Inclusion to True Partnership

Inspired by the guidance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, this seminar invites a shared and reflective exploration of how institutions engage with Indigenous knowledge and communities. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá calls for relationships rooted in love, justice, humility, and service—qualities essential for learning that honors dignity and reciprocity. The seminar will be participatory, holistic, and art-integrated, creating space for dialogue, reflection, and creative inquiry rather than prescriptive conclusions. Together, participants will consider how engagement can move beyond symbolic inclusion toward genuine partnership—grounded in listening, mutual learning, and shared responsibility—in service to reconciliation, unity, and the advancement of civilization. All are warmly invited to take part in this collective learning space. The participants are requested to commit to both days. There will be some readings and videos in preparation for this seminar, which will be shared with the registrants.

Facilitators: Michael Orona, Milagros Red-Feather, MaryAnne DeWolf, Suzanne Maloney, Farzaneh Peterson

Apply

Advancing Organizations: Cultivating a Culture of Learning

In its Riḍván 2010 message, the Universal House of Justice notes the "strengthening of a culture in which learning is the mode of operation, a mode that fosters the informed participation of more and more people in a united effort to apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to the construction of a divine civilization". Drawing on this insight, the 2026 Advancing Organizations seminar will center on the following question: what cultural conditions make sustained learning possible inside organizations?

Drawing on both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í sources, this seminar will explore core organizational discourses — power, consultation, performance, leadership, structure, and culture — examining where prevailing assumptions limit learning and where new patterns are beginning to emerge. Rather than treating culture as a soft or secondary concern, participants will investigate culture as a living system: one shaped continuously by relationships, shared purpose, and the way learning is understood and practiced.

Designed as an interactive experience in co-creation, the seminar will explore and refine shared language, core concepts, and practical tools that participants can carry into other settings. Through experiential, interactive, and arts-based approaches, participants will explore how a spirit of learning can permeate organizational life, and how the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation can be consciously brought into new spaces through action, reflection, and service.

As participation in organizations is universal, the seminar is open to participants from all disciplines. There will be no pre-reading but participants are asked to come prepared to share sources — both Bahá’í and secular — that inspire them on this topic.

Facilitators: Heeten Choxi, Eric Berger, Iscander Tinto

Apply

Reflections on the Advancement of Technology and Society

How can our conceptual framework (as it relates to technology) be progressively shaped by the principles of the Bahá’í Faith and the experience of our community?

The purpose of this seminar will be to examine some central concepts related to technology and the advancement of civilization. Participants will be able to articulate how elements of the conceptual framework apply to questions surrounding technology during humanity’s passage to maturity.

Our exploration will assist us to move beyond a view of technology as “a neutral means to freely-chosen ends” by appreciating the power of technology to shape thought and action. We will critically examine prevalent notions about the proliferation of technology and its relationship to social transformation. This space is offered to participants, regardless of their occupation or educational status, to become familiar with insights from the discourse on the philosophy of technology and related Baha’i perspectives. Experience has shown that commitment to participate fully in the seminar is critical to the success of the seminar. This is a two-day in-person seminar: participants must commit to attending for both days and completing a set of pre-readings prior to the seminar.

Facilitators: ABS Technology special interest group

Apply

Scientific in its Method: What Does Religion Bring to Science?

There is a growing misconception in the world that science and religion are competing over the same intellectual territory, that religion is outmoded, and that it is destined to be replaced by science. And yet, as we know, science itself – far less civilization – will suffer without the spiritual impulse brought by religion.    

“(S)cience and religion are two complementary systems of knowledge and practice by which human beings come to understand the world around them and through which civilization advances…science without religion becomes the tool of crude materialism.” (The Universal House of Justice, 2 March 2013)

We will examine in this seminar how we can bring into general consciousness, and to the consciousness of the scientific world, the nature of true religion and of how religion is necessary for the preservation of the gains made by science, its continued advancement, and for preventing the creation of destructive technologies.

In the seminar we are looking to further an understanding of the line between science and scientism, and of the interplay between science and the Faith along the lines of the Revelation itself being 'scientific in its method'. These auxiliary goals and features will be aided by the participants having some sophistication in understanding science / philosophy. 

Preference will be given to early professionals and to university students, preferably those with some training in the physical sciences, the social sciences or philosophy.  

Facilitators: Robert Sarracino, Stephen Friberg, Whitney White-Kazemipour, Douglas Perry

Apply

Utilizing the Arts to Heal and Build Strong Communities

This seminar offers a multifaceted exploration of the arts as a key component for reflecting Bahá’í Spirit, a tool for building vibrantly diverse communities, eliminating prejudices, and achieving the oneness of humanity. Participants will study academic texts and look at relevant contemporary artwork and video selections, as well as engage in creative reflective exercises and local arts field trip(s), to explore both theory and practice. Participating in creative activities together promotes healing, increases bonds of friendship, and promotes understanding and cooperation. By blending scholarly analysis with hands-on creative activities, we will foster a space to reflect on the arts' role “as an important means of generating joy, strengthening bonds of unity, disseminating knowledge and consolidating understanding” (Universal House of Justice). This seminar is designed for artists, arts educators, and creative professionals working in the arts, who are eager to reflect on the arts as a vehicle for social change. 

We will tackle questions such as: 

• How can art help us appreciate diversity and eliminate prejudice? 
• What is the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation? 
• What is the artist’s role in community transformation? 
• How does art offer healing, a distinctive way of knowing and perceiving the world? 
• In what ways has AI become a tool in artistic production? 
• How can we become empowered as resources for our communities? 

Facilitators: Anne Perry, Kristine Young, Heather Harvey, Linda O’Neil, Polly Malby, Louise Profeit-LeBlanc

Apply

Evolution and Consciousness

While biology curricula emphasize biological mechanisms, these are often interpreted through a materialistic framework whose philosophical implications may be unclear. Such interpretations can unintentionally suggest the absence of spiritual reality, particularly in discussions of evolution and consciousness. These themes are also addressed in the Bahá’í writings and require careful correlation with contemporary scientific findings.

The seminar will explore the relationship between evolutionary biology and Bahá’í teachings on evolution; between neuroscience and Bahá’í perspectives on the mind and soul; and the ways social forces shape both biological phenomena and their study. Participants will also consider the qualities, skills, and habits of mind needed to achieve coherence between scientific inquiry and insights from Revelation. This seminar is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of any major or discipline, professors, as well as practitioners and researchers in the biological sciences. Enrollment will be capped at 25, with preference given to current students or active researchers who can attend the full seminar and complete required pre-readings.

Facilitators: Sujaya Neupane, Yasmine Ayman, Jasmine Miller-Kleinhenz, Bayan Toloubadei, Tim Wood, Tara Raam

Apply

Exploring Participatory Action Research and Community Engaged Research

Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach that seeks to engage community members as protagonists in research aimed at investigating and contributing to the betterment of their local community. PAR is diverse in its applications and how it is understood, with some scholars viewing it not simply as a methodology but as an epistemology. Rooted in social justice movement organising, PAR emphasizes engaging those most affected by research in knowledge production and action to challenge inequalities. It recognizes the agency and expertise of communities, contesting traditional notions of objectivity and offering pathways for systematic inquiry and action for justice. This seminar explores how PAR principles cohere with Bahá'í community actions and how both can learn from each other, fostering dialogue between students, scholars, and community members. 

Facilitators: Cameron Rishworth, Leah Karlberg, Valentina Muraleedharan

Apply

Alternatives to Partisanship – Theory and Practice

This seminar aims to equip participants with a conceptual framework, and a set of practical tools, to contribute to the discourses of society in a manner that promotes unity, and avoids feeding into partisanship. 

• Day 1 – Theory: Participants will examine the underlying principles that guide Bahá’í approaches to politics and non-partisanship, with reference to contemporary political science scholarship that helps illuminate a series of important questions: why do factionalism and partisanship appear to have grown in recent years and become inextricable from mainstream policy debates and conceptions of democracy? What can political scientists and theorists tell us about the drivers behind and shortcomings of partisan politics and political polarization? What are some of the main theoretical and empirical research findings on political depolarization? In what ways do these correlate to the Bahá’í guidance around, and experience with, a radically non-factional form of social organization that remains robustly democratic? And how can we understand the kind of administration and democracy that Bahá’ís are learning about, and what role it plays in the Bahá’í conception of governance? The goal of this day’s discussion is for participants to increase their capacity to articulate, at a conceptual level, why Bahá’ís do not engage in factionalism and partisanship, and to explain the alternative that they are learning about – with both humility about current experience and confidence in the direction the Faith has set. 
• Day 2 – Practice: Building on theoretical insights, participants will engage in workshop sessions focused on strategies to transcend partisan discourse, including case studies, collaborative exercises, and simulations of real-world interactions. 

(Time permitting, we may also explore the possibility of visiting Parliament, with a view to appreciating both the high aspirations and actual outcomes of partisan politics.)

This seminar is designed for Bahá’ís with a background in political science, international relations, or closely related fields (current and former students, faculty, or individuals who have independently studied in these fields). It may also be of interest to friends serving in roles (LSA members, Auxiliary Board Members, etc.) that involve guiding community members about how to engage appropriately in potentially partisan questions and issues. Participants will be able to share their experience to date, and we anticipate that we may continue to collaborate after the conference to share ongoing learning and potentially work towards contributing to academic discourse in the field.

By the conclusion of the seminar, participants will:

• Gain clarity on the Bahá’í approach to partisanship and political engagement, and how it correlates to concepts in the academic study of political theory / political science.
• Acquire practical tools and strategies for fostering non-partisan discourse in academic, community, and professional settings.
• Contribute to the development of a body of knowledge that supports ongoing dialogue and learning on this question within the Bahá’í community, and beyond.

Facilitators: Todd Smith, Michael Sabet, and Babak Bahador

Apply

Assessment in Higher Education: Transcending Alienating Grading Policies

This seminar will extend discussions held at the two ABS pedagogy in higher education events in Calgary (2025) and Dallas (2026), and its target audience is current university professors. Professors with a perspective aligned with the Bahá’í community's framework for action often struggle with punitive, transactional, and alienating grading policies at colleges and universities. Grading through such policies can undermine efforts to engage students in meaningful pedagogical practices. In this seminar, we will not only consider navigating prevalent grading policies but also explore alternative assessment practices that enhance student achievement, encourage risk-taking in fieldwork, and convey student learning in relation to the course learning outcomes. Questions we will pose revolve around how the concepts of accompaniment, emerging from community-building efforts, and capacity-building can be applied in higher education, and their implications for coherent assessment practices. In our imperative to contribute to the prevalent public discourse on assessment in higher education, we will review and discuss modern classroom and applied assessment literature in light of the learning emerging from the global plans. There will be a couple of prereading assignments. Preference will be given to current professors at the undergraduate or graduate levels residing in North America.

Facilitators: Justin Scoggin

Apply

Pursuing Coherence in Technological Development and Discourse

This seminar welcomes those situated in academic and professional settings concerned with the making of technology, decisions about technologies, and the teaching or study of technologies. This includes engineers, computer science students, software developers, product designers, STS scholars, philosophers of technology, technology ethicists, and educators in any of these disciplines who are interested in acting and reflecting upon the discourse in their field. 

Relevant themes from the guidance of Bahá’í institutions and literature from the philosophy of technology and science & technology studies will be introduced to provide conceptual grounding and unity of thought, either during the seminar, or prior to it as pre-readings. Learning from collaborative processes about the creation of specialized settings within ABS will be shared.

Collaborators will present insights from various subjects of ongoing examination by the special interest group. Participants will also be invited to share from their own experience in applying elements of the conceptual framework to their field or discourse, with disciplined consultation on the themes that arise. 

There is also an opportunity to join a collaborative process that will inquire into a specific topic and present its experience during the seminar, and we encourage those interested to apply as early as possible.

If you are unsure whether this space is relevant to your experience, we encourage you to apply; the seminar organizers will be in touch.

Facilitators: ABS Technology special interest group

Apply

Assumptions Shaping Media and Society

What assumptions shape contemporary discourses in media? What is the role of media in society, and how do inherited conceptual models influence our understanding of deliberative media and media arts? This seminar will examine central concepts related to media and social transformation. Participants will reflect on media’s highest aspiration in light of the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith and its potential contribution to community building. We will consider how one’s conception of the audience, including assumptions about human nature, shapes both media production and practice, and how prevailing economic models influence media discourse. Through consultation, participants will articulate how elements of the Bahá’í conceptual framework apply to questions surrounding media and its role in society. 

This space is intended for students and emerging professionals seeking to reflect on how concepts from the Bahá’í teachings relate to contemporary media discourses. This is a two-day, in-person seminar, and participants are expected to commit to attending both days and completing assigned pre-readings in advance.

Facilitators: Rachel Wolfe, Mona Ghadirian

Apply

Examining Underlying Assumptions in Health and Healthcare

This seminar aims to bring together students and those in the first several years of work in the field of healthcare to examine some underlying assumptions shaping contemporary approaches to health and health care systems. How do these assumptions affect our attitudes and approaches to wellbeing? What insights from the framework of the Nine Year Plan can assist us in re-examining some of these assumptions? Particular topics of focus may include defining health, the role of illness and the human condition, and manifestations of illness at the level of the individual and society. We hope this space will provide an opportunity for reflection as we take our next steps into the field of health care and align our patterns of thought and action with the Revelation. This seminar is intended for undergraduate students, graduate students and those in professional health training (medicine, dentistry, etc.), as well as those in the first few years of practice. This seminar will not have any required pre-readings.

Facilitators: ABS Health special interest group

Apply