Insights from the Field: Podcast explores annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies

ATLANTA, United States — A new podcast episode of the Bahá’í World News Service explores the rich discussion and collaborative spirit that characterized the recent 48th annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies (ABS) in North America.

Publish Date: Wednesday 2nd October 2024
Share 
Baha'i World News Service
Atlanta Society

Atlanta Society category interest

ATLANTA, United States — A new podcast episode of the Bahá’í World News Service explores the rich discussion and collaborative spirit that characterized the recent 48th annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies (ABS) in North America.

The conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia, brought together nearly 2,000 participants from diverse fields of study to explore the application of Bahá’í teachings to contemporary discourses on humanity’s well-being.

Eric Farr, a coordinator of the Association’s collaborative endeavors, explains in the podcast how the ABS seeks to advance its initiatives. He discusses how Bahá’ís working in various fields examine the interplay between prevailing ideas in their professions and the insights drawn from Bahá’í teachings and community experiences.

“What we understand childhood to be, for example, will shape how educationalists develop policy and curricula. Bahá’ís in these fields notice these things and how they affect practice and conversation,” he says.

He adds, “We have a responsibility as people who care about the well-being of humanity to analyze that, to consider together in small groups or in large groups how these ideas accord with the Bahá’í teachings and the experience of the Bahá’í community.”

Mr. Farr elaborates on the Association’s approach to fostering this collaborative exploration. “One of the concrete ways that ABS is trying to do that is by creating a constellation of spaces and activities where people can take initiative,” he explains. “Small groups can draw on the powers of consultation and collaborative inquiry to analyze their fields and think together about how they can contribute more coherently and effectively.”

The podcast highlights various aspects of the conference, including plenary sessions, breakout discussions, and thematic seminars, as well as discipline-specific sessions on economics, literature, sociology and anthropology, history, philosophy, and political science.

One session focused on the interplay between technology and society, exploring its relation to the Bahá’í principle of the harmony of science and religion.

A participant of this seminar, Janice Ndegwa, a Ph.D. student in history, shares her reflections on the complex relationship between technology and society. “One of the popular ways of thinking about technology is that it’s human beings who have to adjust to the way that technology works,” she says. “And then you have another point of view that talks about how technology is a reflection of what a society is thinking about.”

Ms. Ndegwa emphasized the seminar’s focus on the mutual influence of technology on society. She elaborates on how Bahá’í principles, particularly the concept of the nobility of each human being, can inform approaches to technological development and adoption:

“If we treat all human beings as people who can be active participants in the process of knowledge production, then the idea that we just take up technologies that are produced in one part of a country or one part of the world and apply them wholesale to another community wouldn’t be possible.”

December 22, 2024

Story attribution: Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS)
Baha'i World News Service

Share 

More from Atlanta Society

placeholder
Atlanta Society

Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts

John Lewis (born February 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama, U.S.—died July 17, 2020, Atlanta, Georgia) was an American civil rights leader and politician best known for his chairmanship of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and for leading the march that was halted by police violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, a landmark event in the history of the civil rights movement that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”Lewis was the son of Alabama sharecroppers.

GT LOV’s Sandwich Run serves the local community
Atlanta Society

GT LOV’s Sandwich Run serves the local community

On the first Saturday of every month, students who are a part of Tech’s Lifting Our Voices, Inc. chapter (GT LOV) can be seen driving around the local area, making, packaging and hand-delivering meals to the homeless and food-insecure population around local Atlanta.

placeholder
Atlanta Society

Georgia judge says women aren’t ‘community property’ as abortion ban struck down – as it happened

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureSummaryWe’re wrapping up our live coverage of US politics for today, but our live coverage of what is happening now in Israel and Lebanon will continue.

Atlanta Launches Trailblazing Reentry Resource Fair for Returning
Atlanta Society

Atlanta Launches Trailblazing Reentry Resource Fair for Returning

Mayor Andre Dickens, along with Fulton County Solicitor Keith Gammage, has invited Atlanta's returning citizens to a new reentry resource fair designed to help them reintegrate into society.

placeholder
Atlanta Society

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Prevention and Support

October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a crucial time to focus on early detection, prevention, and supporting those affected by this disease.

ever homes needed: National Adopt a Dog Month
Atlanta Society

ever homes needed: National Adopt a Dog Month

168October is National Adopt a Dog Month, and across Atlanta organizations are raising awareness about pet adoption and finding loving homes for dogs in need.

Sign up for Atlanta Post Online Newsletters

Keep in touch with everything on Atlanta Post Online. Sign up for our newsletter!
 


Stats
Elapsed time: 0.9573 seconds
Memory useage: 2.58MB
V2.geronimo