The social and spiritual implications of the pandemic
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This panel presentation explores the far-reaching social and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Among the questions to be explored are: In what ways does this the crisis make us more conscious of our interdependence? In what ways does it reveal insights about the values that bind us together? What are the roles of communities in responding to the virus? In what ways do religion and spirituality shape responses to the crisis? What does the crisis reveal about our understanding of resilience? What insights does it reveal about the dynamic harmony between science and religion? What concepts, principles, and aspirations need to be more fully articulated to help advance discourses newly prevalent in society? Panelists will draw insights from their diverse professional orientations, experiences, and perspectives.
Hoda Mahmoudi
Hoda Mahmoudi has held The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 2012. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty, Professor Mahmoudi served as the coordinator of the Research Department at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel from 2001 to 2012, and earlier, was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University, and a faculty member in the Department of Sociology. She recently published two edited volumes Children and Globalization: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Routledge 2019) and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights (Emerald Publishing 2019); and this year has co-authored World Without War: 'Abdu’l-Bahá and the Discourse for Global Peace (Bahá’í Publishing 2020).
Mojgan Sami
Mojgan Sami holds a PhD in Urban Planning from the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine, and an MA in International Law and Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She teaches undergraduate courses in health equity and global health. Dr. Sami’s research interests include infrastructure and ecological impacts on health equity and wellbeing. Dr. Sami is currently the Board Vice President for California Walks, an organization that advocates for people-centered mobility in the state. She is also an advisor with a special task force on health and environment at the World Health Organization.
Thomas Ponniah
Thomas Ponniah’s research focuses on social and political philosophy, globalization, development and the Great Books tradition. He was a Lecturer on Social Studies, Assistant Director of Studies, and Faculty Associate of the Project on Justice, Welfare and Economics at Harvard University (2003-2011). He is currently a Summer Lecturer at Harvard University, an Affiliate of Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and a Professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is the co-editor of The Revolution in Venezuela (Harvard University Press 2011) the co-editor of Another World is Possible: Popular Alternatives to Globalization at the World Social Forum (Zed Books 2003). Dr. Ponniah has received a Certificate of Distinction and Excellence in Teaching and the Barrington Moore Prize for Advising Excellence in Harvard’s Social Studies program.
44th Annual Conference
Beyond Critique to Constructive Engagement
The views expressed in this recording are those of the presenters and do not necessarily represent the views of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, nor the authoritative explications of Bahá’í writings.