January 2022
A monthly electronic Newsletter
News, Web Talks, live events,
upcoming courses
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Great Webinars
and Podcasts in January
The talks are live web video programs and are free. Just click to register, or go to our Facebook or YouTube page to watch live. The video will be available later on our YouTube account; the audio will be available as a podcast on our SoundCloud channel.
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Student Finds New Dimension in Understanding
Kenton Dunbar reflected about the course 'Abdu'l-Baha: His Life and Ministry and the "new dimension in my understanding" about how to live his life from studying the life of the Master.
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Course Fosters Discernment about Discussing Science and Religion
The course Science, Religion, and the Baha'i Faith helped Michael Sabet see and understand some of the popular assumptions behind the belief that science and religion are in conflict. He has improved his ability to articulate certain points in support of the harmony of science and religion and has a new confidence he can say something concrete and meaningful about it. He plans to give a presentation about the subject to his campus Baha'i group.
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Judith Parsley gained a clearer concept of the talking points, objections, and arguments for the harmony of science and religion and plans to create a session for junior youth about the subject. She is also considering ways to express the idea in art.
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Student Inspired to Share Arts Perpective with Youth
Sarah Cruz took the course The Four Valleys and the Hidden Words: An Arts Perspective and found her ability to appreciate and do art expanded tenfold. The course has inspired her to take the arts to her friends and to junior youth.
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"Extension" Courses and Other New Developments for 2022
The Wilmette Institute plans to rename its non-credit courses "extension" courses to reflect their relationship to our "credit" courses. We are also creating a new system to determine extension course completion, and shortening the grace period to complete course work.
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Robert Stockman has just publishedThe World of the Baha'i Faith through Routledge, a prominent academic publishing house. The 648-page book covers a wide range of aspects of the Faith in 51 chapters, authored by 34 scholars. | |
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Tips for Sustainable Living | |
Wear Reusable Face Masks
We humans are using up and throwing away 129 billion face masks every month! Wear reusable, washable face masks to avoid the waste. If you throw a mask away, be sure to cut the loops so no animal gets caught in them.
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Baha'i Perspectives on Agriculture and Food
Jan. 13 - Mar. 2, 2022
Baha'u'llah described agriculture as "a vital and important matter" that was foremost among the principles "conducive to the advancement of mankind and to the reconstruction of the world” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas 90, 89). Yet current agricultural policy often prioritizes yield and profit over health, sustainability, and sociocultural features of rural communities, while the poor struggle to even feed themselves, and climate change makes farming increasingly unpredictable. The course will examine Baha'i teachings on agriculture, food, rural development; relate this to public discourse; and explore how agriculture can be incorporated in community-building.
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Finding the Hidden Gift: An Approach to Studying the Baha'i Writings
Jan. 20 - Mar. 9, 2022
Finding the Hidden Gift: An Approach to Studying the Baha'i Writings introduces learners to a systematic method of studying any Baha'i scripture by using a number of literary and exegetical tools. We will study selected passages from Baha'i scripture through four "windows" into the meaning of divine wisdom: Language; Theme; Structure; and the Work as a Whole. Through learning to read carefully, with attention to literal and figurative language, theme, structure, and the place of the work in the author's writings, we will develop tools for analyzing any Baha'i text systematically. The course will also examine quickly five other "windows" into the meaning of scripture: the oeuvre (body of works), the biography, the times, the literary tradition, and the world scriptural tradition.
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Baha'i Theology
Jan. 31 - May 20, 2022
This course on Baha'i theology (the study of God and creation and of the relationship between them) provides an in-depth study of many of the fundamental spiritual teachings of the Baha'i Faith. The units are organized around a series of questions we all ask from time to time, such as "How do I know what is true? Do I have free will? What is expected of me? Where do I go after death?" This course will be run as a community course alongside a graduate level course to be hosted by the Graduate Theological Union (GTU).
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Introduction to Baha'u'llah's Writings
Jan. 31 - May 20, 2022
In Introduction to Baha’u’llah’s Writings, we will undertake a systematic introduction to twenty of Baha’u’llah’s most important works, ranging from The Hidden Words to Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. We will study themes in the works, topics that Baha’u'llah progressively revealed during His ministry, and related tablets wherever possible. The course is designed for learners seeking basic information about the writings of Baha’u’llah, new Baha'is wishing more context for Baha’u’llah's most important works, and veteran Bahá’ís seeking deeper understanding of the ocean of Baha’u'llah's revelation. We will not read the twenty works in their entirety but, rather, will sample passages from the selection of important works revealed by Baha’u’llah. This course will be run as a community course alongside a graduate level course to be hosted by the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). It is a revision of the course Baha'u'llah's Revelation: A Systematic Survey.
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Creating Unity with Friendship and Laughter
Feb. 3 - Mar. 23, 2022
You will be empowered through this course to lift your spirits and that of others through friendship, the arts and generous living. Come enjoy and learn how to deepen friendships, generate laughter, have fun together, extend hospitality, share humorous stories, take a lighter approach to challenges, and discover the joy of unity in diversity. Open to individuals, groups, couples, families, and communities. Participants will meet in weekly discussion groups--form your own or meet new people. Please invite your friends!
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Interfaith Dialogue and Collaboration
Feb. 10 - Mar. 23, 2022
At a time when religious fanaticism and fundamentalism are spreading, and an ever-increasing number of people consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” the need to engage in fruitful interfaith dialogue is pressing. The Baha'i Faith is in a unique position to inspire and support interfaith endeavors because the Faith’s very scriptures contain the imperative to foster interfaith dialogue and names it as one of the prerequisites for world peace. This course draws on Baha'i principles as well as the work of interfaith scholars and organizations, journalists, religious leaders and agencies of various faith traditions, to explore how to successfully initiate and engage in interfaith dialogue with people of all spiritual persuasions.
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God Summons Europe (Part 1)
Feb. 10 - Apr. 6, 2022
This course will closely examine Baha’u’llh’s proclamatory letters to Emperor Napoleon III (r. 1852-1870) of France, Tsar Alexander II (r. 1855-1881) of Russia, and Empress Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) of Great Britain. There will be 4 webinars for this Course, the first of which will be a public Webinar..
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Cultivating Transformative Leadership
Feb. 10 - Mar. 30, 2022
What does “leadership” mean, once it’s been stripped of the mindset of domination? How do we go about transforming ourselves and the groups, teams, and organizations in which we participate? Since its initial formulation 25 years ago, Transformative Leadership has been applied in education, health, youth programs, community development, and in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations in five continents. The course questions existing mental models of human nature, society, and leadership that impede progress toward a just, united world community, proposing an explicit, principle-based framework that can bolster cooperative action in teams, organizations and communities. The course is open to all and is especially useful to those who are involved in social action or participating in the discourse of society.
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The Great Spirit Speaks: Voices of the Wise Ones
Feb. 17 - Apr. 20, 2022
The Great Spirit Speaks: Voices of the Wise Ones introduces several of the founders of Indigenous spiritual traditions of the Americas, such as: (1) Deganawida, the Peacemaker (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois); (2) White Buffalo Calf Woman (Lakota); (3) Sweet Medicine (Cheyenne); (4) Lone Man (Mandan and Hidatsa); (5) Breathmaker (Seminole and Miccosukee); (6) Quetzalcoatl (Toltec); (7) Viracocha (Inca/Quechua); (8) Gluskap (Wabanaki); (9) Talking God (Navajo/Diné); (10) Bunjil (Australian Aboriginal Tradition).
In so doing, some pieces of the puzzle of “Progressive Revelation” are added in order to present a much fuller picture of the panoramic scope of the world’s religious history.
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The Wilmette Institute eNewsletter | | |
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The Wilmette Institute eNewsletter is published monthly by the Wilmette Institute, which offers quality online courses on the Baha'i Faith. The Wilmette Institute is committed to engaging a broad and diverse international community of learners in deep study of the Faith and to fostering love for study of the Faith. The Wilmette Institute was established in January 1995 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.
Information from the eNewsletter may be copied or reproduced, provided that the following credit is given: "Reprinted from the eNewsletter of the Wilmette Institute," followed by the issue's date. Recipients are encouraged to forward the eNewsletter to friends. If you have questions, please email us at [email protected].
Editor
Robert H. Stockman
Production
Robert H. Stockman
Niki Daniels
Mim Gottschalk
Deborah Lilly
Contributors
Sarah Cruz
Kenton Dunbar
Christine Muller
Judith Parsley
Michael Sabet
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