August 2012 eNewsletter
News
Help Up With Our New Website
We invite you to share your input on the Wilmette Institute's new public website.
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Course Software to Receive Upgrade and How It Might Affect Your Course
An alert to enrolled students about a coming Moodle upgrade.
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Association for Baha'i Studies Focuses on 'Abdu'l-Baha's Vision for North America
There is still time to register for and attend the annual meeting of the Association for Baha'i Studies in Montreal.
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Wilmette Institute Presence at ABS Conference in Montreal
A display table and two dinner information sessions highlight the Wilmette Institute at the ABS conference in Montreal.
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'Irfan Colloquium at Louhelen Baha'i School, Michigan
Check out information about the October 2012 'Irfan Colloquim at Louhelen.
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Where Do Our Students Live?
Click on http://goo.gl/maps/iDH2 to see a Google map showing the countries and territories where at least one person (resident or pioneer) has taken one of the Wilmette Institute's online courses during 2012-12.

Baha'i institute for Higher Education Update
Click on http://www.psmag.com/education/irans-secret-university-for-bahai-global-and-underground-43600/ for a moving story on BIHE, Iran's global and underground university for Baha'i students.

Social Media
Facebook and Twitter Discounts
If you would like a discount on your next Wilmette Institute course, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. We are offering discount codes for 10 or even 20 percent for selected courses via those two social media.

Our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ Family
The Wilmette Institute now has 694 "likes" on Facebook! Help push us past 700. Our "weekly total reach" is now 731, thanks to people forwarding our postings to friends. We have 442 followers on Twitter and have now made over 500 tweets. Please help our social outreach so we can serve you better.

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Our Students Speak Up & Act 
A Revitalized Vision for Interfaith Activities
A long-time representative to an interfaith organization ends course reenergized and recommitted to social action in the interfaith arena.
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Allowing One's Heart to Embrace a Diversity of Faiths
A Baha'i of forty years comes to an understanding of a "family" of religions.
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Worldwide Discussion in Online Forums Inspires Local Work in Chile
A Baha'i in Chili learns how to set an agenda for interfaith dialogue and is impressed by the urgency for continuing this form of social action.
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Faculty News  

Local Group Inspired by a Wilmette Institute Course to Prepare for Public Discourse

A faculty member for Social Action and Public Discourse talks about how members of her cluster are meeting monthly to prepare themselves to participate in public discourse.

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Mark Your Calendar
November 1, 2012 - January 31, 2013
Christianity for Deepening and Dialogue
November 15, 2012 - February 15, 2013
Islam for Deepening and Dialogue 
December 1, 2012 - February 28, 2013
Baha'i Theology  
December 15, 2012 - January 30, 2013   
January - June 2013 Course Schedule

Below is the Wilmette Institute's course schedule for the first half of 2013. The starting dates may change, based on faculty availability. 


01/02/13

How to Study the Baha'i Writings


01/10/13

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf


01/20/13

Charters of the Faith


02/01/13

Zoroastrianism for Deepening and Dialogue


02/10/13

Climate Change


02/20/13

Building the Fortress: Marriage and Family Life 

 

03/01/13

Social Action and Public Discourse


03/15/13

Economics and the Baha'i Faith 

 

04/01/13
Science, Religion, and the Future

04/10/13
Baha'u'llah's Early Mystic Writings

 

05/01/13
Introduction to Shi'ism and Shaykhism

05/10/13
Exploring the Tanakh/Old Testament

05/20/13
International Development and the Bahá'í Faith       

 

06/01/13
How to Study the Writings

06/15/13
The Bahá'í Faith: A Comprehensive Introduction

 
August - October 2012 Courses
The Tabernacle of Unity

Lead Faculty: Susan Maneck
Faculty: Christopher Buck, Farhad Rassekh

Duration of course: Seven weeks (August 15 - October 3, 2012)

Tabernacle of Unity The five tablets in The Tabernacle of Unity proclaim some of the central tenets of Baha'u'llah's Faith and the universality of His prophetic claims. In the course we will undertake a careful reading of the five tablets, exploring the Baha'i concepts of progressive revelation and the role of religion in advancing human civilization; the relevance of the book to interfaith dialogue; and what the tablets teach us about the process of revelation. Baha'u'llah addressed two tablets to a Zoroastrian who admired Him and who asked questions about Zoroastrianism and Hinduism and three tablets to Baha'is of Zoroastrian background. . . .

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule     Register
The Ministry of Shoghi Effendi

Lead Faculty: Barney Leith 
Faculty: Kurt Hein

Duration of course: Seven weeks (September 1 - October 23, 2012)

This course looks briefly at Shoghi Effendi's childhood and youth (1897-1921) and more extensively at his ministry as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith (1921-57). The course will consider the many roles Shoghi Effendi filled as he carried out his duties as Guardian in fostering the growth and development of the Baha'i Faith. These include builder, interpreter, author, and translator. Shoghi Effendi devoted much of his ministry to building the administrative order outlined by Baha'u'llah and elaborated by `Abdu'l-Baha in His Will and Testament and to using it as an instrument for fostering the international spread of the Baha'i Faith called for by `Abdu'l-Baha in the Tablets of the Divine Plan. . . .

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule     Register
The Baha'i Faith and the Arts

Lead Faculty: Anne Perry
Faculty: Vickie Hu Poirier

Duration of course: Seven weeks (September 10 - October 31, 2012)

In this course on the Baha'i Faith and the arts we will explore the purpose of the arts from a Baha'i perspective; how art and religion have harmonized and conflicted in the past; the artist as a unique person with a special gift; reframing imagination, creativity, and risk-taking within a Baha'i context; and developing a serviceable language about the arts.

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule     Register
Introduction to Archives for Baha'i Archivists

Lead Faculty: Roger Dahl
Faculty: Lois Walker, Sue Rishworth

Duration of course: Three months (September 15 - December 15, 2012)

aRCHIVES Organized by the United States National Baha'i Archives and taught by three Baha'i archivists, this course will introduce local and national Baha'i archivists to principles that will help them organize and maintain their collections. Registration for the course is open to local and national Baha'i archivists (and to others only by permission of the National Archives). The course will include activities that will require access to archival materials in a Baha'i archives. . . .

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule     Register

`Abdu'l-Baha in America       


Lead Faculty: Robert Stockman
Faculty: William Collins

 

Back by Popular Demand! 

 

Duration of course: Three month (September 20 - December 20, 2012)

 `Abdu'l-Baha in America will explore `Abdu'l-Baha's epochal journey across the North American continent from April 11 through December 5, 1912. In the course we will look at the journey both chronologically and thematically, considering each of the places the Master visited and His various accomplishments. An initial unit will discuss requests from American Baha'is that prompted `Abdu'l-Baha to visit North America. `Abdu'l-Baha's journey in the United States and Canada teaches us many things, provides many stories we can tell that will attract others to Him and to the Baha'i Faith, and prepares us for opportunities for public discourse that the one-hundredth anniversary of His visit provides. . . . 

 

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule   Register      

 

The Writings of the Bab        


Lead Faculty: Moojan Momen
Faculty: Todd Lawson

 

Duration of course: Nine weeks(October 1 - November 29, 2012)

This course is an introduction to the principal writings of the Bab. Among the works we will study are the Commentary on the Surih of Joseph (Qayyumu'l-Asma'); tablets to secular and religious leaders; The Seven Proofs (Dala'il-i-Sab`ih); the Persian Bayan (Bayan-i-Farsi); the Arabic Bayan (Bayan al-`Arabiyyah), the Book of Names (Kitab-i-Asma'); and the Book of Five Grades (Kitab-i-Panj-Sha'n). Our study will be both historical and thematic. . . . 


 

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule   Register      

 

Science and Religion        


Lead Faculty: Robert Sarracino
Faculty: Niki Daniels, Roger Neyman

 

Duration of course: Three months (October 8, 2012 - January 8, 2013)

SciRel Shoghi Effendi called science and religion "the two most potent forces in human life" and predicted that in time these two forces will "be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously develop." In this course we will explore a complementary view of science and religion consistent with the philosophy of science and with Baha'i texts. We will examine the nature of science and the scientific method itself, as represented by practicing scientists and by the major societies representing science, and the harmony of science and religion from the Baha'i point of view, as we can best understand it at present. . . . 

 

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule   Register      

 

Social Action and Public Discourse        


Lead Faculty: Betty Fisher 

Faculty: Sherna Deamer, Barney Leith  

 

   

Duration of course: Seven weeks (October 15 - December 2, 2012)

In this course we will explore social action and public discourse and their dynamic relationship to the core activities and other Baha'i activities in the Five Year Plan. We will begin with a compilation of Baha'i texts on the spiritual qualities needed for social action and public discourse and an historical survey of Baha'i involvement in the two areas of action. Then we will explore social action and public discourse in letters from the Universal House of Justice and in writings of Baha'i institutions and individual Baha'is. We will conclude by discussing resources that will help each of us in our spiritual and practical journey as we incorporate social actions and public discourse into our lives. . . . 

 

Course Description     Faculty     Fees     Study Schedule   Register      

 
ABOUT US

The Wilmette Institute offers quality online courses on the Baha'i Faith. It 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 it to friends. If you have questions, please email us at info@wilmetteinstitute.org.
Wilmette Institute, 1233 Central Street, Evanston, IL, 60201-2886 USA
Phone 1.877.WILMETTE (1.877.945.6388) - Fax: 1.847.733.3563
Email: info@wilmetteinstitute.org
Web: www.wilmetteinstitute.us.bahai.org
 

© 2012 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States - www.bahai.us

 

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