From August 1 to 3, Calgary saw more than 2000 participants from diverse walks of life come together for the 49th annual conference of the Association for Baháʼí Studies of North America (ABS).
According to Dr. Todd Smith, member of the ABS North America executive committee, “a major area of exploration animating the annual conference and all ABS activities is the question of what it means to be in a mode of learning,” which has been shaped particularly by guidance from the Universal House of Justice. The activities at the annual conference have evolved as a result, growing in diversity.
Even the notion of what a conference is has expanded. ABS activities occurring throughout the year–reading and writing groups, and seminars–all aim to help participants gain capacity to relate insights from the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh to current thought in their field, to engage in discourses with greater effectiveness, to read their social reality with greater clarity, and to help shape discourse in a way that fosters unified understanding. The annual conferences allow participants to share and extend what they have learned throughout the year, –and then to return once again to their respective spaces and continue their endeavours with fresh enthusiasm.
The conference featured five main components: plenary sessions with keynotes and panel discussions; multiple breakout sessions on various themes; 19 two-day seminars with presentation of research, group discussion, and planning for collaborative initiatives; disciplinary streams for participants from specific fields of study; and a full-day study session for youth aged 15 to 21 on a letter of the Universal House of Justice to the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity.
Among the plenary sessions were a panel featuring a co-founder and long-time collaborators of FUNDAEC, a Baháʼí-inspired development organization based in Colombia; a keynote on innovation, technology and transformation; and another offering an indigenous perspective on what it means to be educated and guided.
Packed breakout sessions covered diverse topics. One focused on the intense period of learning in the Iranian Baha’i community immediately following the 1979 revolution. As a participant commented afterward, it was inspiring “to hear the stories of creativity and rejoice in families facing harsh oppression and how that experience can be a source of learning for future tests and difficulties for communities elsewhere”. Another breakout session organized by a high school science teacher looked at several of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s quotes elevating the role of logic and reasoning in religious thought. Yet another looked at the work of Dr. Jamshid Aidun, a Canadian doctor, and the legacy of his work among Indigenous people in a remote region of Guyana, where he led the Bahá'í Community Health Partnership (BCHP).
As the Association for Bahá’í Studies continues to evolve in a learning mode, some of the questions on the horizon include these: How can its annual conference be as inclusive as possible while maintaining focus on its key objects of learning? How can more experienced scholars accompany new generations of academics and professionals? How can the Association reach more members of society? In addressing these questions, no doubt the ABS will advance further in its efforts to promote the application of spiritual insights to the discourses of society.
More information about the Association for Baháʼí Studies is available here.
A selection of recorded sessions from the 49th annual ABS conference are available here.