With less than two weeks to go until the Association for Bahá’í Studies conference in Toronto, Ontario, over 1200 people are expected to attend the four-day long event.
The annual conference brings together scholars, students, and interested participants to analyze and discuss global issues from a spiritual perspective. This year’s main theme looks at what insights scholarship can bring to social advancement at the community level.
The roster of speakers promises a strong gathering this year. In addition to the keynote address, being given this year by sociologist Will van den Hoonaard (see previous story), an international lineup of plenary speakers is scheduled to speak on each of the four days.
Perhaps the most well-known among them is best-selling author Thomas Homer-Dixon, who wrote The Upside of Down. Homer Dixon will discuss the values shift that is required to alleviate the accumulating environmental and social stresses that are currently hindering the global order.
Also speaking in plenary sessions will be American psychologist Michael Penn, Augusto Lopez-Claros, an international authority in economics and globalization, and Haleh Arbab, an education expert and founder of an innovate school in Colombia.
With most sessions now finalized, a number of breakout presentations show equal promise. Among them are a talks on promoting ethical management in the business world, a comparison of faith-based and non-faith-based approaches to HIV prevention, the role of the press in public discourse, and closing the gender gap.
Read the latest news and register for the conference on the Association for Bahá’í Studies website. And visit the ABS’ website later next week for the final program and schedule.