Invitation to two Association for Bahá’í Studies seminars

The following announcement is from the Association for Bahá’í Studies organizing committee regarding two seminars at the upcoming conference. 

There will be two seminars specifically designed for undergrad and grad students at this year’s Association for Bahá’í Studies annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, August 4-6. If you are a student, we hope you will consider attending. If not, please share this with students in your community. Below are some details about the seminars. Details and forms about these and other seminars that will be held at the conference this year can be found at bahaistudies.ca/seminars.

1. Engaging Introductory Economics from a Bahá’í Perspective

Seminar Application | Atlanta, Georgia, 4-5 August 2023

Participants are invited into a conversation in which the content of introductory economics courses are considered in light of the Bahai teachings and learning of the community. The aim is to encourage coherent thinking as students encounter ideas that are less than fully aligned with the Revelation and with the needs of the age. This study session is primarily meant for undergraduate students (in any discipline) who have taken at least one introductory economics course. It may also be of interest to grad students or others that work with discourses about economic life. Pre-readings and full participation in all the sessions are required.

2. Navigating Materialist Assumptions in the Study of Biology

Seminar Application | Atlanta, Georgia, 4-5 August 2023

Most biology curricula focus on biological mechanisms interpreted within a materialistic framework, the implications of which are not always apparent. Two topics often taught this way are consciousness and evolution. These topics are also referenced in the Baha’i Writings in ways that must be correlated with scientific findings. This seminar will explore the following questions: What is the relationship between evolutionary science and the Baha’i teachings on evolution? What is the relationship between findings from neuroscience and the Baha’i teachings on the mind and soul? And how do social forces influence biological phenomena as well as the study of those phenomena? Some pre-readings will be required of all participants. This seminar is for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the biological sciences. Some pre-readings will be required. Full participation in all the sessions is required.

Registration to a seminar ($100) includes access to the entire conference program. Please note that while there are general sessions held simultaneously to seminar sessions, seminar registrants are required to attend the full seminar. Accommodation, meals etc. are not included in the registration fee. Child care is available, as part of the ABS Children’s Conference, from the morning of Friday, August 4 to the afternoon of Sunday, August 6. If financial assistance is required, the seminar and/ or conference registration form will assist you in receiving it.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to email us at collaborative.initiatives@bahaistudies.ca