"The Spiritual Assembly as
Arbitrator," presented to ABS seminars in 1987 and
1997, discusses the function of Spiritual Assemblies in arbitrating
disputes among Baha'is, and offers some historical insight into the
development of Baha'i practice.
"The Baha'i Perspective on Water," delivered to the second Klingenthal Symposium, November 1997, gives a brief summary of the Baha'i understanding of the ecological place of water.
"Globalization and the Environment," delivered to the International Seminar of the International Jacques Maritain Institute, October 1998, presents some responses to possible problems associated with globalization.
"Soil in the Baha'i Faith," delivered to the Sol, Cultures, and Spirituality conference, May 1998, discusses the Baha'i understanding of the land and its soil.
"Spiritual Dimensions of Sustainable Development," delivered to the Workshop on Sustainable Development and International Cooperation, March 1996, discusses the many meanings of "development" and their spiritual aspects.
"Sustainable Consumption and True Prosperity," delivered to the 2nd international Conference of the Environment, November 1998, discusses the problems of consumption and their solutions.
"Sustainable Development and the Environment of the World: An Overview," delivered to the International Baha'i Environment Conference, October 1997, gives an overview of what we understand about the
world and where it is going from a Bahá'í perspective,
and what kind of roles might be appropriate to Bahá'is concerned about these issues.
Clay into Crystal: How Thought Shapes Structure in the Pursuit of Justice, delivered to the Association for Baha'i Studies conference, Seattle 2001, explores the concept that social structures emerge out of patterns of thought. The argument is illustrated with the history of political transformation in Uganda, of economies in Europe, of the academy.
"Global Dilemmas, Local Responses: Creating Patterns of Action that Make the World Different," delivered at the Baha'i Development Conference for the Americas in Orlando, December 2000, considers globalization using three images from the Baha'i Writings of the world as a body: as a diseased body, as a beautiful but dead body, and of political and social institutions as a growing body.
Sexuality, Self, and the Shape of Society, delivered to the "Building the Kingdom Conference" in Milwaukee, June 2001, argues that our culture's current understanding of sexuality is relatively new, is materialistic, and ultimately unjust, especially in the highly politicized discourse about homosexuality
The World We Want: Overcoming Barriers to Systematic Action explores the process through which humanity can create a peaceful and just world society, exploring themes presented in The Secret of Divine Civilization, "The Promise of World Peace," and recent letters of the Universal House of Justice.
Religious Freedom in the Asia Pacific. Presented at the conference "Human Rights, Faith and Culture: A Conference Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Canberra, Australia, November 1998. (on the Asia-Pacific site)
"Neoplatonism: Framework for a Bahá'í Metaphysics," presented at the Texas Regional Baha'i Studies Conference in Austin in November 1995, discusses the major concepts of (1) Plotinian and (2) Islamic Neoplatonism, and (3) highlights the dominant features appearing in Bahá'í philosophy.
Hick, John
"Interfaith and the Future," published in the Bahá'í Studies Review (4:1
[1994], 1-8), is excerpted from an address given to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the World's Parliament of Religions in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October 1993.
Hoonaard, Will C. van den
The
Question of Gender in Canadian Baha'i History explores the position of
Baha'i women in the Canadian community and the extent to which they
participated in teaching and administrative activities. Presented to the
North American Baha'i History Conference, Wilmette,
Illinois, 5-6 June 1994.
Apologetics: A Personal Vision, presented at the ABS conference in Seattle, September 1 2001, discusses the need for and practice of academic defense of the Baha'i Faith.
"Scripture as Literature," presented at the
Haj Mehdi Arjomand conference in Wilmette, 1993, traces literary and religious antecedents to some of the styles and genres of Baha'i scripture. (see later published version in published articles)
Lundberg, Zaid
"The New Age Movement and the Baha'i
Faith" discusses how to define the New Age Movement, its similarities
to and differences from the Baha'i Faith, and how it may be defined in
relation to the Baha'i Faith. Presented to the Fourteenth Irfan
Colloquium, Manchester, July 1997.
In Chasm of
Belief, a paper delivered to a New Zealand Association for Baha'i
Studies conference in 1996, McLellan attempts "to address the issues that
accompany post traumatic stress disorder, its challenge to the [Baha'i]
community, and steps which may assist the community to face this issue."
Monotheistic Religion in Africa: The Example of
the Swazi People describes the similarities between the
Baha'i Faith and the ancient traditional beliefs of the Swazi people of
Southern Africa. Presented at the July 1997 ABS-ESE conference in
Manchester, England.
Shoghi Effendi's Question, originally delivered at the 9th annual ABS conference in Ottawa, 1984, and later published in The Vision of Shoghi Effendi (Ottawa: Baha'i Studies Publications, 1983, 189-193), is Sala's pilgrim recollections of Shoghi Effendi discussing the meaning of the World Order of Baha'u'llah.
Schaefer, Udo
Challenges to Bahá'í Studies, published in the Baha'i Studies Review vol. 2.1 (1992), discusses the intellectual presentation of the Baha'i Faith and related topics of review, apologetics, and contemporary political contexts.
On Novelty in Ayyám-i-Há and the Badí Calendar, delivered at the ABS conference "Who Is Writing the Future," in Mississauga, Ontario, September 1 2000, discusses the place of calendars in a religion and specifically on the meaning of the Badi calendar for Baha'is.
Notes taken by Mark Towfiq
at
a session on 31/8/1996 at Green Acre Baha'i School, entitled "Scholarship
and Authority," who writes "all mistakes and confusing statements are
certainly my own fault, and not due to any deficiency on the part of the
participants...":
