Antipodean Bahá’í Studies

The Association for Bahá’í Studies, North America, is pleased to announce that its 33rd annual conference will be held from the 13th to the 16th of August, 2009, in Washington DC, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The theme of the conference will be Environments. The teachings of the Bahá’í Faith shed light on the dialectical relationship between the human soul and its environment. As Shoghi Effendi explained, “We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.”[1] The nature, quality, and condition of the environments we inhabit therefore have profound implications for human well-being. In this context, how can science and religion, as complementary systems of knowledge and practice, be applied more effectively to the preservation, refinement, and improvement of the myriad environments – natural, cultural, and built – within which we live and grow?
You are invited to explore this theme at the 33rd annual conference of the North American Association for Bahá’í Studies. New and experienced presenters and participants, from all backgrounds and disciplines, are welcome. Possible topics for presentation might include, but are not limited to: the spiritual dimensions of environmental stewardship; the impact of diverse environments on human development and well-being; understanding nature as an expression of the Divine; empowering children and youth to cope with and transform the media environment they are growing up within; beautifying and enriching our environments through the arts; understanding the environment of the study circle; refining the social environment within our communities; mobilizing communities to care for their natural environments; probing the nexus between environment and development; and applying spiritual and scientific principles to the design of our built environment. A call for presentations will follow later this Fall. [1] Cited in Conservation of the Earth’s Resources: A Compilation of Extracts from the Bahá’í Writings, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1990.