Ten Year Retrospective, 24 July 2023
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Ten Year                                     the discourses of society, with a par-
ticular emphasis on professional and
Retrospective,                               academic discourses. Since then, the
Association has progressively learned
24 July 2023                                 how to translate this and subsequent
guidance into action. Now, ten years
later, we feel moved to reflect on the
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
advances made in several related ar-
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR
eas: fostering evolving conversations
BAHÁ'Í STUDIES – NORTH
within collaborative settings—such
AMERICA1
as reading groups, writing groups,
and seminars—about contributing to
1. Introduction                              professional and academic discourses
2. Settings for learning together about
from a Bahá'í perspective; reimagining
contributing to prevalent discourses
the annual conference; advancing the
3. Reimagining the annual conference
4. Evolution of the publications work
Association's publishing endeavors;
5. Vision of growth and approach to          and strengthening the capacity of the
learning                              Association to operate systematically.
5.1 Objects of Learning                        These developments have entailed
5.2 Elements of the conceptual framework    learning about how various elements
5.3 Generating and applying knowledge       of the conceptual framework discussed
6. A lifetime of inquiry                     in the 24 July 2013 message,2 including
Appendix: Small Group Initiatives            learning in action itself, apply to the
work of the Association. Attentiveness
1. I                              to these elements has helped generate
new strengths—and given rise to new
On 24 July 2013, the National Spiritual      challenges—which have disclosed new
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada
received a message written on behalf            2      "Central to the effort to advance
of the Universal House of Justice re-        the work of expansion and consolidation,
garding the role of the Association for      social action, and the involvement in the
Bahá'í Studies with respect to "the          discourses of society is the notion of an
intellectual life of the Bahá'í commu-       evolving conceptual framework, a matrix
nity and its greater involvement in the      that organizes thought and gives shape to
life of society." The House of Justice       activities and which becomes more elabo-
encouraged the Association to focus          rate as experience accumulates" (Universal
on building capacity for engaging in         House of Justice, 24 July 2013).
References to "the conceptual frame-
work" in this document should be under-
1     Written in collaboration with the   stood in light of this description by the
Executive Committee's subcommittees,         Universal House of Justice, which is ex-
staff, and other close collaborators.         plored in section 5.2.
8                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

possibilities for advancement.               of reference that helps to unify the
We have correspondingly refined           Association's various activities and con-
the mandate of the Association in the        solidate our understanding of the mutu-
light of continuing guidance, such as        ally reinforcing relationship between its
the 30 December 2021 message of the          work and the pattern of activity in which
Universal House of Justice addressed         the Bahá'í community is engaged. That
to the Conference of the Continental         is, the activities of ABS are understood
Boards of Counsellors. To this end, we       to complement, and to be nurtured by,
created numerous spaces for consulta-        the society-building endeavours of the
tion and reflection within and between       wider Bahá'í community.
committees, with staff and collabora-             In the following retrospective, we
tors, and with our senior institutions.      outline the main developments of ABS
This process led to the generation of        over the last ten years, referring to the
the following mandate:                       24 July 2013 message as our guide. We
also highlight some of our key objects
The Association plays a role in          of learning as well as our approach
fostering the intellectual life of the   to applying relevant elements of the
community, focusing in particular        conceptual framework to the work. A
on helping to build the "capacity        theme that runs throughout this report
of the friends to contribute to the      is how the Association can strengthen
prevalent discourses of society in       its capacity to further expand and con-
their academic fields and in their       solidate its endeavours in alignment
professions" in a manner that "en-       with the provisions of the Nine Year
rich[es] the capacity of the Bahá'í      Plan.
community to discharge its mis-
sion."3 It aims to enable partici-            2. S
pants of varying backgrounds and
academic interests to effectively
explore how "to provide, in the
world of ideas, the intellectual         In the fourth paragraph of the 24 July
rigour and clarity of thought to         2013 message, the House of Justice
match their commitment to spir-          explains:
itual and material progress in the
world of deeds."4                          Every believer has the opportunity
to examine the forces operating
Recognizing that all visions evolve,         in society and introduce relevant
we view this mandate as a point                aspects of the teachings within the
discourses prevalent in whatever
3    Universal House of Justice, 7           social space he or she is present.
September 2015.                                It is, perhaps, as a means to en-
4    Universal House of Justice, 30          hance the abilities of the friends to
December 2021.
Ten Year Retrospective                                9

explore such opportunities in rela-        itself. They may additionally stimulate
tion to their scholarly interests that     individuals and groups to pursue their
the endeavours of the Association          own interests independently, perhaps
for Bahá'í Studies can be con-             sharing the results of their inquiries
ceived. Through the specialized            at the annual conference. Inevitably,
settings it creates, the Association       as these independent initiatives pro-
can promote learning among a               liferate, many will occur outside our
wide range of believers across a           immediate awareness, albeit inspired
wide range of disciplines.                 directly or indirectly by the settings the
Association has established. As such,
And further:                                 these settings can serve as catalysts for
a range of initiatives aiming to contrib-
As unity of thought around es-             ute to the world of ideas.
sential concepts emerges, the                 The main types of specialized set-
Association may find it useful to          tings are ABS workshops, reading
explore fresh approaches with              groups, writing groups, other small
some simple steps that can grow            collaborative projects, seminars, and
in complexity.                             working groups. These spaces are de-
scribed immediately below; a list of the
Based on this guidance, the Association      workshops, reading groups, and semi-
has fostered a still-evolving set of         nars currently known to the Association
activities that aim to promote learn-        appears in Appendix A.
ing about participation in a variety of
academic, professional, and thematic         W
discourses prevalent in society. The
Committee for Collaborative Initiatives      Workshops are typically half-day ses-
(CCI) coordinates this dimension of          sions that help familiarize participants
the Association's work, which, as it         with the aims of the Association and its
evolves, is increasingly contributing to     approaches to contributing to profes-
the evolution of the annual conference       sional and academic discourses. They
and the publications work.                   explore themes such as the dispositions
Specifically, the Association has         conducive to participating construc-
created several specialized settings and     tively in discourses, how to read prev-
complementary spaces to help enhance         alent discourses for their underlying
the abilities of the friends to "examine     assumptions, and how attending to the
the forces operating in society and in-      elements of the conceptual framework
troduce relevant aspects of the teach-       helps to ensure coherence between
ings within" prevalent discourses.           the efforts of ABS and the communi-
These settings aim to enable the friends     ty-building work and social action. The
to foster patterns of collaborative schol-   final section of the workshop discusses
arship connected with the Association        possibilities for participants' further
10                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

engagement in ABS activities (by,          discourse and how it correlates with the
for example, forming their own read-       teachings of the Faith. Once formed,
ing groups, as discussed in the next       these groups often come together for
section).                                  six to twelve two-hour sessions, though
These workshop sessions are cur-        some develop into longer-term efforts.
rently offered once or twice a month        Reading groups cover an ever-expand-
depending on the availability of facil-    ing range of themes, such as climate
itators and the number of registrants      change, education for justice, health
for a given session, with an intensi-      promotion, influential women thinkers,
fication of offerings in the lead up to     reparations and reconciliation, world
the annual conference. Sessions usu-       government narratives, technology and
ally bring together between eight and      values, and many others (as noted in
twenty participants and two facilita-      Appendix A). All reading groups aim
tors. These facilitators are invited to    to analyze the text(s) they are studying
reflect individually and collectively on   in the light of the writings of the Faith,
ways to improve the materials and the      the experience of the community, and
workshop space itself based on their       the framework for action that orga-
experiences.                               nizes the Bahá'í community's efforts
In the years since the 24 July 2013     to transform society. They are envi-
message was received, the communi-         sioned as inviting, thoughtful settings
ty has become more familiar with the       in which the friends can "reflect on the
work of contributing to discourses,        implications that the truths found in the
particularly since Ruhi Book 14, Unit      Revelation may hold for their work"
1 became available. As the communi-        (24 July 2013).
ty's capacity to engage with discourses       Reading groups are typically fa-
grows, it is not entirely clear whether    cilitated by one or a few individuals
and in what form this workshop will        whose primary purpose is to encourage
continue to be needed. For the time be-    a consultative environment in which
ing, it provides a helpful introduction    participants strive to correlate insights
for those wanting to be connected with     from the text(s) being studied with
ABS.                                       those from other key sources of knowl-
edge, such as pertinent writings of the
R         G                                Faith, the experience and learning of
the participants, and the discussion
A reading group is a small group that      that ensues within the reading group
forms to read a book or a set of texts     setting itself. The facilitators are addi-
from a given field or on a given theme,    tionally responsible for arranging the
and to thoughtfully explore the content    meetings (most commonly through on-
in a collaborative environment. It is an   line video conferencing), identifying a
accessible way for participants to de-     text or set of texts, designing a read-
velop their understanding of a specific    ing schedule, distributing materials,
Ten Year Retrospective                             11

making necessary adjustments to the        discussions with facilitators to reflect
line of inquiry based on reflections       on progress, opportunities, challenges,
with the group, and liaising with the      and the knowledge being generated
Association. In some cases, they draft     within their respective reading groups.
framing questions to assist their groups   We have also held facilitator gatherings
to read and consult. They may also         where learning can be shared between
encourage participants to use informal     them. As reading groups and related
writing as a tool for clarifying and ar-   endeavours multiply, it has become ev-
ticulating individual and collective in-   ident that more attention must be paid
sights that could potentially be shared    to how the system of accompaniment,
with others.                               facilitation, coordination, and capacity
A few reading groups have built         building can correspondingly evolve.
on this informal writing, evolving
into writing groups (discussed below)      W         G
whose participants eventually present
and receive feedback on their work at      The Association has also been explor-
seminars or during breakout sessions       ing how to develop collaborative writ-
at the ABS conference. Other reading       ing groups that can make significant
groups have simply given rise to new       advances in producing content for the
reading groups. We are, consequently,      Journal of Bahá'í Studies (JBS) and
beginning to see how these reading         other fora. Of particular concern is
groups can serve as portals to addition-   how to create consultative environ-
al ABS activities, which can in turn       ments that enhance individual and col-
lead to yet new reading groups. At the     lective research, writing, and review.
same time, we recognize the value of       One key example of such a collective
the reading group in its own right: any    initiative led to the JBS special issue
short-term reading group can stand on      on constructive resilience (Vol. 30, No
its own as an important contributor to     3). This issue was the fruit of a multi-
the goals of the Association.              year collaboration between scholars
While momentum is building, there       in a range of disciplines, arising from
is still much to learn about how to        a series of readings groups and semi-
multiply these specialized settings;       nars on related themes. This group of
to assist more groups to embark on         authors decided to write a set of essays
longer-term, complex efforts; and to        and consulted on their work at vari-
enable groups focusing on similar          ous stages of the writing process. One
themes to coalesce into more sustained     finding coming out of this initiative
working groups (discussed below). We       was that earlier involvement by the
are also finding that reading groups       JBS Editorial Committee could lead
can benefit from accompaniment. To         to a smoother process of moving from
date, such accompaniment has includ-       group collaboration to publication.
ed regular, one-to-one, or small-group        Building on this learning, another
12                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

group of collaborators is now submit-        and revise their respective drafts with
ting six essays for joint publication        a view to both formally submitting
in JBS. This initiative arose out of a       them to JBS and presenting them at a
reading group focused on the harmo-          seminar at the 2023 annual conference.
ny of science and religion during the        This "early and often" model of solic-
summer of 2020. This reading group           iting feedback from the JBS editor and
led to another group that decided to do      other collaborators, combined with the
an in-depth study of Helen Longino's         group's regular space for consultation
book Science and Social Knowledge:           on the development of each author's
Values and Objectivity in Scientific         paper, has helped to foster unity of vi-
Inquiry, correlating insights from this      sion and a sense of shared enterprise
book with guidance from the writings         for the project amongst both the au-
of the Faith regarding consultation and      thors and JBS.
other related topics. Inspired by this           Simultaneously, collaborative writ-
study to begin a writing process, the        ing has been emerging out of the
group began by arriving at a shared vi-      methodologies' seminars—distinctive
sion of a general area of focus for a set    meetings convened in response to the
of essays, to be authored individually       Universal House of Justice's reference
or by pairs. With this vision in mind,       in the 24 July 2013 message to disci-
it then devoted its already-established      plinary methodologies. Writing has
weekly pattern of meeting to sharing         emerged organically in this context,
and providing feedback on the ab-            with groups focused on different disci-
stracts, outlines, drafts, and redrafts of   plines' methodologies initially creating
their respective papers. The core aim of     documents for their own internal use.
the group was to learn how to foster a       This in turn has led to collaborative
humble posture of learning as it applies     writing aimed at wider circulation,
to the writing and review process—one        including through publication in JBS.
in which each member of the group felt       A specific writing project currently
accompanied by the other members to          under way is organized around what is
strengthen his or her paper. The group       referred to as scholarly "response," in
also held a two-day seminar with a           which an initial paper (in this case, a
wider group of participants to obtain        collaboratively written article on meth-
additional constructive feedback on          odological trends in the social scienc-
their papers. Some months later, the         es) is circulated to others with relevant
group shared the six draft essays with       backgrounds to generate a set of writ-
the JBS editor for his initial input. The    ten responses, which in turn inform a
editor's written comments on each            response by the authors of the initial
paper, supplemented by a consulta-           article. The collaborators in this inher-
tion with the group, proved extremely        ently dialogical process are conceiving
helpful. The members subsequently            of this project as an exercise in con-
continued to assist each other to review     sultative inquiry. The aim is to publish
Ten Year Retrospective                              13

in a special volume of JBS, with three       that have been collaborating on a proj-
goals: to illustrate a processes-oriented    ect online to meet in person in order to
approach to collective learning about        work more intensively, and we aim to
methodology, to create a resource that       expand such types of support.
can be studied by others who are learn-         To date, most of these sustained en-
ing to navigate methodological deci-         deavours have been writing projects, as
sions in the social sciences and other       described above. Others are focused, at
fields, and to help foster the capacity to   least initially, on less formal kinds of
participate in discourses on this theme.     writing as a means of capturing and
While this project is in its early stag-     sharing insights arising from group
es, there is a shared understanding be-      learning processes. Still others have
tween the writing collaborators and the      been focused on attending professional
Editorial Committee of the importance        or academic conferences together to
of learning about how this "response"        collectively read the discourse and re-
format can promote rigour and clarity        flect on how one might contribute more
of thought while adhering to consulta-       effectively to it. To encourage such
tive standards of unity, candor, courte-     endeavours, the Association has held
sy, affection, and generosity in a mutual     gatherings for these groups to discuss
search for truth, thereby eschewing the      their connection with seminars and
often combative stance of academics          other activities. As noted above, we
towards each other's writing.                also assume that other small projects
are emerging that we are not aware of,
O       S       C                            just as some reading groups are likely
P                                            emerging that we are not aware of.
One small collaborative project,
The Association has become increas-          which grew out of a reading group
ingly aware of the need for sustained        about economic inequality, has pro-
consultation and collaboration among         duced a document for study with un-
the friends as they seek to bring insights   dergraduate students that interrogates
from the Faith to bear on their fields.      the underlying assumptions of intro-
As noted above, reading groups offer          ductory economics courses. It seeks to
a simple yet potentially powerful first      equip students to keep their thinking
step towards this end. The Association       coherent and aligned with the Bahá'í
aims to encourage the emergence of           conceptual framework for social trans-
more complex projects from among             formation even as they engage with
some of these reading groups. A small        the discipline of economics. Having
but growing number of these have al-         prepared and refined the document, the
ready developed, and we hope to learn        group has held several online sessions
how to support more of them in the           with students, and will be holding an
coming years. We have gained some            in-person seminar at the 2023 annual
initial experience with helping groups       conference. This project has inspired a
14                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

similar effort to examine materialist as-    spaces in which insights can be shared
sumptions that are often overlaid onto      across academic and professional en-
the scientific study of evolutionary        deavors of a similar nature, leading to
biology and neuroscience, which will        the formation of academic or profes-
also be the focus of a seminar at the       sional centers.
2023 annual conference. Such efforts
are contributing to the Association's       S
emerging approach to engaging stu-
dents in its activities in ways that are    In the 24 July 2013 message, the House
complementary to, rather than redun-        of Justice states that as clarity and unity
dant with, the Institute for Studies in     of thought gradually emerge within the
Global Prosperity (ISGP) seminars for       Association, "a number of small seminars
students.                                   could be held to assist individuals from
Beyond small projects of these           certain professions or academic disci-
kinds, which arise directly or indirectly   plines to examine some aspect of the dis-
from ABS-fostered processes, we are         course of their field. Specific topics could
also attempting to stay abreast of more     be selected, and a group of participants
advanced endeavours at the frontiers of     with experience could share articles,
learning, including the establishment       prepare papers, and consult on contem-
of academic centers, research labs,         porary perspectives and related Bahá'í
and so forth, initiated by Bahá'ís and      concepts." Since 2017, the Association
likeminded collaborators. For instance,     has been developing its capacity to hold
we have been following develop-             one to three-day seminars—in person,
ments with the Center on Modernity in       online, and hybrid—on a range of topics
Transition, which partners closely with     (listed in Appendix A).
universities such as Duke and NYU;              To date, we have generated several
the Center for Resilient Communities        points of learning regarding the bene-
at West Virginia University; and the        fits of seminars. In the first place, we
Centre for Digital Tools and Social         have found that seminars can vary in
Transformation at the British Columbia      terms of format and size, and yet still
Institute of Technology. We hope to         contribute to the objectives of ABS.
follow and learn from other similar         Some seminars have been organized by
endeavours so that insights gained in       working groups (discussed below) and
these spheres of activity can, over time,   have convened dozens of people at a
be shared appropriately within relevant     time for relatively broad and inclusive
ABS spaces, and so that systematic          conversations about important trends
learning can begin to occur across a        across a range of discourses in related
growing range of related initiatives. At    fields. These include Health Working
some point, it may be appropriate for       Group and Media Working Group sem-
ABS to also take a role in generating       inars. Other seminars have gathered
these kinds of initiatives, by convening    smaller groups of collaborators for
Ten Year Retrospective                              15

more specific conversations informed        seminars while ensuring that they are
by substantial preparatory reading.         coherent with other ABS activities, in-
These include seminars on themes in         cluding the annual conference, as noted
the areas of Africana Studies, narrative    in Section 3 below. Other objectives
ethics and media practice, and cooper-      include further systematizing the lo-
atives and next systems. Some of these,     gistical organization of these seminars,
as well as other seminars, such as those    opening them up to greater participa-
focused on science and religion, com-       tion from the wider community, and
munity action, and methodologies,           perhaps jointly hosting seminars with
have created spaces for participants        other groups of scholars or like-mind-
to discuss and provide consultative         ed organizations. On this last point,
feedback on each other's written work.      the Association aims to become much
It has been heartening to witness this      more proactive at inviting academics
diversity of approaches, which has al-      and professionals to participate in semi-
lowed for both a wide range of partic-      nars concerned with examining various
ipation and rigorous engagement with        exigent issues facing humanity today.
prevalent discourses.
As to other points of learning, we       W          G
have found that seminars help partic-
ipants to reflect on how to explicate       The term "working group" was initial-
the principles of the Faith in relation     ly used to describe a range of collab-
to contemporary perspectives, and to        orative efforts. Since that time, it has
appreciate that the conversation about      evolved to signify a group that fosters
a given theme has different layers to it,    learning among a growing network
thus demanding both depth and flexi-        of individuals and small collaborative
bility of thought. Seminars have also       groups within a shared academic or
been found to draw naturally upon oth-      professional field. The spaces orga-
er ABS processes and activities, such       nized by working groups—including
as reading and writing groups, thus         reading groups, seminars, and other
reinforcing the growing coherence           special gatherings—allow participants
between these activities. They addi-        to enter into a sustained conversation
tionally foster a culture of accompani-     with one another, identify common in-
ment among participants with different       terests, consult on questions of shared
levels of experience. Finally, allowing     relevance, receive encouragement and
sufficient time in these spaces for in-       support, and initiate or develop new
formal conversation, stories, and the       lines of inquiry and new collaborative
arts evidently plays a key role in build-   endeavors. As such, the structure of
ing bonds of friendship and "consoli-       a working group shows promise as a
date[ing] understanding".                   means of strengthening and extending
One major objective of the               CCI's scheme of coordination at the
Association is to multiply these            level of a discipline or field.
16                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

As this understanding has crystal-      its cycle of annual activity. In 2021-
ized, CCI has become more system-          22, the Health Working Group was
atic in its accompaniment of working       accompanied more intensively along
groups as a whole, and more partic-        the same lines. The CCI coordinators
ularly of those serving as conveners       have been assisting these teams to
or coordinators of these groups. The       reflect on and adjust their respective
committee has continued to learn es-       schemes of coordination to develop
pecially from a small number of work-      structures and practices consistent
ing groups at varying levels of de-        with the need for a growing number
velopment and activity (Economies,         of collaborators to organize seminars,
Health, Media, and Africana Studies),      facilitate reading groups, and learn
which have organized seminars in           from longer-term projects. Moreover,
addition to reading groups and small       while maintaining ongoing lines of
projects. Two of these working groups      action, these working groups have
held thematic seminars over the sum-       also been exploring how to help
mer of 2022 (a seminar on "Narrative,      some small initiatives enhance the
Ethics and Media Practice" by the          rigour and depth of their efforts. For
Media Working Group, and a seminar         one group, this has involved organiz-
on reparations by the Africana Studies     ing three thematic seminars over the
Working Group). The Media and              course of a four-month period during
Health groups have also organized          the spring and summer of 2023.
seminars that convened broad con-          Another has made preliminary plans
versations among participants across       to organize a larger seminar aimed at
a variety of subfields and topics.         inviting colleagues and profession-
One of the objectives of CCI is         al contacts from the wider society
to "multiply working groups while          into a sustained process of study and
also building their capacity to evolve     consultation.
independently." CCI has gradually             While the overall number of work-
helped certain working groups to de-       ing groups has not so far increased in
fine and operate according to cycles       2022-23, the work of the active groups
of annual activity that include the reg-   has continued to expand and deepen.
ular launching and accompaniment of        It seems clear that working groups
reading groups and small projects as       can serve as important structures for
well as more intensive spaces like         supporting sustained intellectual in-
seminars. In 2020-21, to generate          quiry. A major area of learning now
experience that could further inform       is how to continue multiplying them,
the functioning of other groups, the       given both the importance of accom-
CCI coordinators decided to focus          panying one another in the field of
on accompanying the Media Working          service and the current limitations of
Group—a         relatively    advanced     CCI's human resources.
group—in order to help it establish
Ten Year Retrospective                             17

3. R                             drawn upon to support ABS reading
groups, working groups, and seminars,
as well as to present at the conference.
In addition to multiplying and strength-    The ISGP coordinator in Canada has
ening specialized settings, we have also    also presented at the conference to
explored how to respond to the House        help the audience better understand the
of Justice's guidance that, "existing ac-   nature and purpose of ISGP seminars.
tivities, such as the hosting of a large    Nevertheless, an ongoing question is
conference, may be reimagined" (24          how to build on these connections and
July 2013). Towards this end, we have       more systematically engage young
taken several steps to reimagine the        adults who have benefitted from the
conference over the past ten years in       institute's programs.
view of the importance of encouraging          A number of considerations with re-
more active participation at the gath-      spect to the conference have been dis-
ering, fostering relationships among        cussed with members of the Universal
participants in similar fields, engaging    House of Justice, members of the
the youth, increasing the conference's      Continental Board of Counsellors,
coherence with other ABS endeavours,        members of the National Spiritual
and aligning it with the emerging pat-      Assemblies of Canada and the United
terns of community life more general-       States, other collaborators, and the
ly. As an example of this last point, we    National Assembly of Canada itself.
have sought to collaborate early in the     These include: 1) the costs involved
planning process with relevant Bahá'í       in attending an annual continental
institutions in the community hosting       conference, which have rendered it
the conference, striving to ensure that     inaccessible to many (if not most); 2)
our communications and programming          the possibility of decentralizing the
support and are consistent with their       conference over time to make it less
community-building processes. We            costly and more geographically ac-
still have much to learn in this respect.   cessible to more participants; 3) how
Also, with respect to communica-        the conference might evolve into a
tions, we are exploring how to help         space that is directly pertinent to ABS
the Bahá'í community, and in par-           working groups and other small-group
ticular young adults who are familiar       initiatives; 4) the amount of time and
with programs of ISGP, understand the       resources consumed by planning the
place of the annual conference in rela-     conference over the course of a year,
tionship to ABS' overall mandate and        which can hamper the capacity of the
specialized settings. We have conse-        Executive Committee, subcommittees,
quently reached out to the coordinators     and other collaborators to initiate and
of ISGP to explore ways in which we         develop new, potentially worthwhile,
can support each other's objectives.        lines of action; 5) the sentiment that
To this end, ISGP graduates have been       not holding a continental conference
18                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

may have negative repercussions in the         uplifting, welcoming space for
community, which has grown accus-              participants to explore learning
tomed to gathering together to explore         about contributing to academic
the development of Bahá'í thought on           and professional discourses essen-
an annual basis; 6) and the fruitfulness       tial to the generation of knowledge
of adopting a gradual approach to re-          and the progress of humanity. As
imagining the conference, noting in            one among a growing constella-
particular the importance of develop-          tion of ABS activities concerned
ing new lines of action and approaches         with promoting the intellectual
while also working to organically re-          life of the community, it aims to
fine ongoing efforts.                           foster an animated conversation
Owing to the Coronavirus pandem-            among diverse participants about
ic, reimagining the conference has also        how "to provide, in the world of
meant learning how to host it online,          ideas, the intellectual rigour and
which we did three years in a row.             clarity of thought to match their
This in turn entailed learning how to          commitment to spiritual and ma-
improve accessibility to content, such         terial progress in the world of
as by providing captions and addition-         deeds."
al resources for all recorded presen-
tations.5 During this period, we also        We have correspondingly identified the
reframed the call for presentations to       following objectives of the conference.
specifically welcome contributions
aimed at exploring how to participate             First—in view of the impor-
in relevant discourses in the light of the     tance of fostering coherence
teachings of the Faith and in view of          between the various ABS activi-
the provisions of the Nine Year Plan.          ties—the conference aims to serve
With all these considerations in            as a space of convergence where
mind, we have developed the following          participants in various collective
vision for the conference by drawing           initiatives (e.g., working, reading,
upon guidance from the 30 December             writing, and seminar groups) share
2021 message of the Universal House            with other conference participants
of Justice:                                    insights into the fruits of their
learning about how "to explicate
The overarching objective of the             the principles" the Bahá'í commu-
ABS conference is to serve as an             nity advocates, and "demonstrate
their applicability to the issues
5     As the presentations are released     facing humanity."6
in various formats, these resources accom-
pany them, providing value for years to        6      This is in keeping with the guid-
come. Further work has been completed to     ance of the Universal House of Justice that
prepare the conference platform for ongo-    "[o]ne of the aims would be to foster a
ing use.                                     wider participation and to encourage and
Ten Year Retrospective                               19

Second—in view of the impor-             and age groups; assists young people to
tance of fostering inclusion and           understand that contributing to profes-
diversity—the conference aims              sional and academic discourses is a core
to serve as an accessible portal           dimension of service that is coherent
that enables growing numbers of            with the community-building process in
participants with a range of back-         which they are engaged; and creates an
grounds and interests to become            environment in which conference partic-
acquainted with, participate in, and       ipants increasingly see themselves as 1)
thus benefit from, various ABS ca-         active participants, rather than passive
pacity-building endeavours.                recipients, during the conference itself,
2) part of a learning process that is co-
Third—in line with the convic-          herent with (i.e., that builds upon and
tion that ABS is an association that       further enriches) other ABS activities,
seeks to harmonize different per-           and 3) contributing to a collective en-
spectives—the conference aims to           deavour that is consistent with the pro-
feature scholars and professionals         visions of the Plan.
who are contributing substantially            In August 2023, the conference
to various discourses of pressing          resumes as an in-person gathering in
concern.                                   Atlanta, Georgia. A number of sem-
inars will be hosted in conjunction
In accordance with these three objec-     with the conference that will build on
tives, we envision the conference as a       the initiatives undertaken throughout
space that promotes both individual and      the year; they will also complement
collective learning about how to partici-    the plenary and breakout sessions by
pate in relevant discourses from a Bahá'í    helping to infuse the annual conference
perspective; stimulates engagement in        with a dynamic approach to collective
(and serves as a portal to) other ABS ac-    learning. As noted above, ongoing
tivities, such as working groups, reading    considerations include how to make
groups, writing groups, seminars, and        the conference more accessible than it
other collaborative initiatives aimed at     currently is; whether decentralizing the
building capacity to contribute to dis-      conference plays a role in this regard;
courses in academic and professional         how to moderate the amount of energy
fields; sharpens clarity of thought among    that goes into planning a conference so
a widening circle of participants about      that other promising lines of action are
the aims and approaches of ABS in a          not sacrificed; and how, concurrently,
manner that is progressively inclusive       to reinforce the vision that the con-
of, and accessible to, diverse populations   ference is part of a larger interlinked
process of learning that upholds the
role of the scholar and the efforts of the
inspire many to attempt to correlate ideas   friends more generally to advance the
within their fields with Bahá'í thought"     intellectual life of the community.
(Letter dated 7 September 2015).
20                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

4. E                              insights as they develop their articles.
A thematic issue of this kind has the
potential to make a signal contribution
The editorial process for the Journal        to a particular area within Bahá'í stud-
of Bahá'í Studies has evolved con-           ies, accelerating the development of
siderably during the last ten years,         further thought. Collaborative writing
becoming not only more rigorous and          processes have so far resulted in a the-
systematic, but also more collaborative      matic issue on Constructive Resilience,
and more characterized by a spirit of        with two other thematic issues (on sci-
accompaniment.                               ence and religion, and on disciplinary
The beginning of this period was         methodologies) in development.
marked by a concerted effort to estab-            The emphasis on collaboration also
lish and maintain a regular publishing       extends to the committee's approach
schedule to ensure a consistent stream       to article review, which continues to
of high-quality scholarly articles. JBS      evolve to better combine a spirit of
also shifted to an online-first publica-     consultation and accompaniment with
tion model, facilitating access to its       the rigour necessary to meet the high
content. As part of this transition, pre-    standards expected of an academic
viously published articles were also         journal. While experience in this area
made available online.                       is still in its early stages, a collabora-
In addition to these logisti-            tive review process, in which a qual-
cal improvements, JBS's Editorial            ified peer reviewer consults with the
Committee has seen a transformation          author on how to strengthen his or her
in its mode of operation. It has ex-         article, has proven to be a rich source
panded its previously narrow focus           of learning for all involved. Authors
on soliciting and receiving articles for     in this process express feeling sup-
possible publication by individual au-       ported and accompanied; reviewers
thors; while this continues to be an im-     gain experience in mentoring; and
portant part of the Committee's work,        the Editorial Committee learns how
it is now complemented by the support        to initiate and sustain a conversation
and accompaniment of collaborative           between scholars that is at once rigor-
writing projects that emerge out of oth-     ous and consultative. Authors are also
er collective initiatives, such as reading   being more systematically encouraged,
groups. Examples of such endeavours          where possible, to draw upon insights
are provided in Section 2 above (see         from previous articles published in JBS
the "Writing Groups" subsection).            and other Bahá'í publications. A major
Collaborative writing lends itself to        objective here is to inspire authors to
the development of thematic issues of        write in a manner that illustrates an at-
the Journal, in which authors approach       tempt on their part to contribute to dis-
a common topic from a range of per-          courses that may already be grounded
spectives and benefit from each other's      in valuable insights and theory.
Ten Year Retrospective                               21

As with JBS, ABS Publications             previously published books that have
(ABSP) is considered an integral part        long been out of print, such as Logos
of the evolving network of ABS activi-       and Civilization (Nader Saiedi) and
ties—reading groups, working groups,         Planning Progress (June Thomas),
writing groups, seminars, the annual         while select essays from The Vision of
conference, among others—that both           Shoghi Effendi (proceeding from the
benefits from, and contributes to, their     9th annual ABS conference) are being
evolution. Over the last two and a half      considered for republication in JBS.
years, ABSP has been working to build
an independent press that can become                 5. V
the preeminent publisher for Bahá'í
scholars in North America who are
striving to contribute to the intellectual   We have learned much about the pattern
life of the Bahá'í world. The audience       of action that enables the Association
for these books consists primarily of        to advance its work and achieve co-
individuals seeking to understand how        herence among its different areas of
to advance prevalent discourses in soci-     focus. To this end, we have sought to
ety within and across disciplines by ex-     enhance our approach to learning in
ploring how ideas and theories found in      action itself. Indeed, strengthening
contemporary thought relate to Bahá'í        the Association's capacity to operate
teachings. The audience also includes        in a mode of learning and to nurture a
individuals interested in commentary         culture of accompaniment has proven
on the teachings themselves. Based           increasingly vital to advancing every
on the experience of the Association         facet of the work. While this is evi-
with Wilfrid Laurier University Press        dent throughout this document, it is
(WLUP) and subsequent investigation          the specific focus of this section, which
into other university presses, it was        outlines the Association's objects of
concluded that it is most propitious for     learning and discusses ways in which
the Association to develop its own in-       we have endeavoured to apply the el-
dependent press. Notably, few authors        ements of the conceptual framework
submitted suitable manuscripts while         highlighted by the Universal House
the Association was collaborating with       of Justice in its 24 July 2013 message.
WLUP. Since becoming independent,            This section also addresses how we
ABSP has published two books, by             have paid attention to the generation
Michael Karlberg and John Hatcher            and application of knowledge and the
respectively, and is on course to pub-       subject of methodology.
lish at least one book per year over
the next few years, building momen-          5.1 O            L
tum and expanding from there. The
ABS Publications Committee is also              In our effort to articulate the man-
working on making available again            date of the Association discussed in the
22                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

introduction to this report, we concur-     to assist each other to "contribute to the
rently sought to articulate its overarch-   discourses that influence the direction
ing objects of learning. In doing so, we    of [spiritual and material] progress"
again found inspiration by relating the     (30 December 2021). The Association
experience we had accrued to date with      has long been concerned with increas-
the guidance of the 30 December 2021        ing the diversity of those participating
message. We consequently identified         in and coordinating ABS activities.
six objects of learning, which are pres-    However, we gleaned from the 30
ently conceived of as follows.              December 2021 message that it is es-
The first object of learning is how      pecially important to stress this object
to multiply the number of settings          of learning given the emphasis the Nine
and processes—including seminars,           Year Plan places on expanding nuclei
reading groups, writing groups, and         and fostering universal participation—
conferences—in which participants           albeit recognizing that ABS activities
can collaborate, generate collective        may not be of interest to everyone.
insights, and share learning about how         The Association has seen some
"to explicate the principles" the Bahá'í    progress in this regard, specifically ow-
community advocates, and "demon-            ing to the emergence of reading groups
strate their applicability to the issues    and seminars that explore such themes
facing humanity" (30 December 2021).        as promoting racial harmony and the
As alluded to in Section 2 above,        role of women in society. In addition,
which discusses these different settings     reading groups and seminars concerned
in detail, questions now before us in-      with other themes are striving to diver-
clude: How can we continue to build         sify their circles of participation. The
the capacity to expand and consolidate      same is true of the annual conference,
these settings in view of the growing       particularly beginning with the Atlanta
complexity of the work? How can             conference in 2018. It is, moreover,
we do so in a manner that also sup-         anticipated that the plenary sessions,
ports both individual and collabora-        breakout sessions, and, to some extent,
tive initiatives not formally tied to the   the seminars at the annual conference
Association? What human resources           this year will go some way towards
are now needed to build momentum in         meeting this objective. The role of the
this area, taking into consideration the    arts (discussed below) is also under-
central roles that both accompaniment       stood to be vital for promoting broader
and systematization demonstrably play       involvement in ABS activities.
in fostering organic growth?                   This progress notwithstanding, we
The second object of learning is how     are continually asking ourselves: How
to enable growing numbers of diverse        can the Association continue to encour-
participants, intent "on transcending       age greater diversity of participation
differences, harmonizing perspectives,       within its constellation of small- and
and promoting the use of consultation",     large-group settings?
Ten Year Retrospective                              23

The third object of learning is to        on Marxism and the Bahá'í Faith held
develop an outward-looking culture           many years ago)? How can we further
in which participants in different ABS        involve such scholars and practitioners
spaces understand themselves to be ac-       in spaces and processes that facilitate
tively building collaborative learning       shared understanding regarding exi-
processes with scholars and profes-          gent issues of the day?
sionals in the wider society, and that          The fourth object of learning is how
are concurrently aligned with the pro-       to help young people—in particular
visions of the Nine Year Plan. A major       university students and recent grad-
step in this regard has been the efforts      uates—view participating in pro-
of reading groups and working groups         fessional and academic discourses
to study texts by a range of thinkers        as a core dimension of their service
and discover points of unity between         that is coherent with the imperatives
insights stemming from those texts           of community-building and social
and the teachings of the Faith. Some         action, the objectives of the train-
reading groups and working groups            ing institute, and the programs of
have also welcomed participants from         the Institute for Studies in Global
the wider community, which has add-          Prosperity. While the number of
ed greatly to the quality of their con-      youth and young adults participating in
versations. The same is true of some         our annual conferences, seminars, and
seminars and panels at the annual            reading groups is relatively small, we
conference. There is, consequently, an       are seeking to expand this engagement
emerging pattern of learning about how       over time. The 24 July 2013 letter pro-
to go beyond inward-looking conver-          vides a vision of rising generations of
sations and provide, "in the world of        youth, shaped by the institute process,
ideas, the intellectual rigour and clarity   who will "wholeheartedly address a
of thought to match [our] commitment         wide range of intellectual challenges,
to spiritual and material progress in the    overcome all pitfalls and obstacles, and
world of deeds" (30 December 2021).          render service for the betterment of the
Nevertheless, we are conscious that          world." Consistent with this vision, it
these spaces would be further enriched       has become clear that the prior partic-
through a more concerted effort to            ipation of young people in the training
translate this outward-looking orienta-      institute, community-building process,
tion into concrete practice.                 and ISGP seminars enhances the qual-
Questions before us thus include:         ity of their participation in ABS spaces
How can we promote "deep dives"              and endeavours.
on a given topic in collaboration with          The growing pattern of activity
academics and professionals from the         within ABS concurrently provides
wider community, perhaps producing           an increasing range of opportunities
a monograph based on the proceed-            for young people to develop their
ings (an example being the seminar           abilities to participate in professional
24                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

and academic discourses. Fostering          whose participants emerge from its
both discipline-specific forms of en-       seminars eager to find discipline-spe-
gagement (particularly among former         cific spaces in which they can continue
ISGP participants) as well as patterns      building their capacity to participate in
of mentorship within professional           discourses of interest to them.
and academic spaces appear to be               The fifth object of learning is how to
distinct contributions the Association      assist a growing number of authors
can make. Recent efforts along these         to publish articles and books contrib-
lines have included the development         uting to "the volume of high-quality
of an economics seminar that assists        literature" that fosters the "intellec-
students to scrutinize the assumptions      tual life" of the Bahá'í community
underlying their fields through the lens    by 1) exploring "certain disciplines"
of the Bahá'í teachings (see earlier        and various themes "in the light of the
discussion in Section 2). This seminar      teachings" (Universal House of Justice,
has been offered several times to small      Riḍván 2021) and the experience of the
groups of undergraduate students, and       community, and 2) correlating insights
it has proven fruitful. Based on this ex-   drawn from the wider society with re-
perience, and as noted earlier, another     lated themes found in the writings of
group is developing materials examin-       the Faith. This object of learning, we
ing the materialistic assumptions that      understand, is consistent with the fol-
are often overlaid onto the study of        lowing statement of Shoghi Effendi:
evolution and neuroscience. These ma-
terials are also meant to assist young        It is hoped that all the Bahá'í stu-
adults studying in relevant fields.           dents will ... be led to investigate
Questions before us regarding this        and analyze the principles of the
object of learning include: What are ef-      Faith and to correlate them with
fective ways to reach and engage under-       modern aspects of philosophy
graduate, graduate students, and young        and science. Every intelligent and
professionals, particularly in view of        thoughtful young Bahá'í should
the many demands on their time? How           always approach the Cause in
can we ensure that the Association's          this way, for therein lies the very
efforts to this end are coherent with the      essence of the principle of inde-
other ways young adults are contribut-        pendent investigation of truth.
ing to the Plan? How can we promote           (Quoted in a letter written on
a culture of learning in which more           behalf of the Universal House of
experienced academics encourage and           Justice dated 19 October 1993)
mentor younger scholars in their ef-
forts to participate in discourses and         Towards this end, the JBS Editorial
advance research relevant to their cho-     Committee continues to advance
sen fields of study? Also, how can we       its learning in the areas described
better coordinate our efforts with ISGP,     in Section 4, "Evolution of the
Ten Year Retrospective                               25

publications work," above. These areas          At this point, additional consider-
include the encouragement of collabo-       ations related to advancing this object
rative writing and the shepherding of       of learning include questions such as:
thematic issues towards publication;        How can we concurrently uphold the
the exploration of the possibilities of     integrity of the content and standards
collaborative review for strengthening      of JBS while also encouraging writing
both rigour and a consultative approach     that reaches a wider, more diverse,
to scholarship; and the fostering of a      audience—that is, while advancing
greater historical awareness of prior       towards the goal of universal partic-
Bahá'í scholarship. These processes         ipation? Are there different types of
are all in their early stages of devel-     writing and/or other media spaces that
opment; they have already produced          would facilitate learning about con-
significant results and contributed to      tributing to academic and related dis-
advances in the Editorial Committee's       courses—specifically, are there spaces
understanding and operations, but           that would enable reading group par-
much more remains to be learned.            ticipants to contribute writing without
The work of ABS Publications has         burdening them with overly-stringent
thus far focused on manuscripts by in-      academic standards? What would it
dividual authors, but the Publications      look like to promote more inquiry and
Committee is alert to opportunities         writing that draws upon and harmo-
to learn about collaboration in both        nizes insights accruing across different
writing and review. More central to its     collective initiatives?
pursuit of the object of learning noted        The sixth object of learning is how
above is its continuing development of      to draw, where appropriate, on the
the capacity to work with multiple au-      arts as a means of "disseminating
thors concurrently on projects at various   knowledge and consolidating un-
stages of development. One particular       derstanding" (30 December 2021).
question before both JBS and ABSP           On this point, and particularly in view
concerns writing projects that are of       of this guidance from the Universal
an intermediate length—that is, longer      House of Justice, the Association is
than a typical JBS article but shorter      endeavouring to be more systematic in
than a book. In the early years of ABS,     learning about how the arts consolidate
this type of writing was published in       understanding within various fields of
monograph form; more recently, pieces       inquiry, and how they promote a hum-
of this nature have found a home in JBS.    ble posture of learning in so doing.
Both the Editorial Committee and the           The Association has sponsored sem-
Publications Committee are considering      inars and working groups focused on
whether it might be timely to revive the    discourses related to the arts in order
monograph, or a similar form, provid-       to encourage capacity building among
ing a shorter time horizon to publication   those professionally and academically
than is possible with a book.               involved in this area. In these settings,
26                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

groups have explored historical and          conscious attempt to both clarify and
theoretical discourses that examine the      apply elements of the conceptual
nature of the relationship between art       framework in accordance with para-
and society, the role of the artist in so-   graph 5 of the 24 July 2013 message.
ciety, and insights from the Revelation      In this paragraph, the House of Justice
pertaining to artistic endeavours. Based     states:
on the learning generated in these con-
texts and other consultative spaces,           Central to the effort to advance the
and in view of relevant guidance of the        work of expansion and consolida-
Universal House of Justice, we have            tion, social action, and the involve-
identified three connected areas of in-        ment in the discourses of society
quiry: How can the arts be more effec-          is the notion of an evolving con-
tively integrated into various ABS spac-       ceptual framework, a matrix that
es? What are artists themselves learning       organizes thought and gives shape
regarding advancing discourses about           to activities and which becomes
the arts? And how can the arts play a          more elaborate as experience ac-
direct role in disseminating learning          cumulates. It would be fruitful if
pertaining to various discourses?              the elements of this framework
Like seminars and working groups,           most relevant to the work of the
the annual conference offers an import-         Associations for Bahá'í Studies
ant setting for the advancement of these       can be consciously and progres-
areas of inquiry. This summer's confer-        sively clarified.
ence features a plenary panel and sever-
al breakout sessions focused on the arts     Below, we consider each of the eight
and their place in expansion and con-        elements the House of Justice then
solidation endeavors. We anticipate that     proceeds to list, briefly outlining how
ideas and concepts emerging from these       they have come to shape our mode of
presentations will quicken our ongoing       functioning as an organization. While
learning in the three areas of arts-relat-   the letter does not suggest that these
ed inquiry outlined above. In particular,    elements are exhaustive, they are pre-
we are eager to learn much more about        sented as the most salient ones for
how the arts can be integrated into ABS      ABS to learn about at this point in its
spaces in a way that inspires universal      development.
participation as well as "intellectual          The first element is the relation-
rigour and clarity of thought."              ship between study and action. This
element is a growing feature of the dif-
5.2 E                                        ferent settings discussed above. For ex-
ample, we are learning in small settings
like reading groups and seminars to
A preeminent factor in the develop-          conceive of what we read and correlate
ment of the Association has been our         with the guidance as part of the study
Ten Year Retrospective                              27

component of this dynamic. With these       also made a conscious effort within
insights in mind, the attempt to then       these spaces, and particularly the larg-
participate in the relevant discourse is    er reflection gatherings, to turn to the
the action component of this dynamic;       guidance as a lens through which to
this could take the form of, for exam-      understand our experience, our current
ple, the simple act of engaging in a        realities, and the vistas of possibility
discussion with a colleague, or writing     emerging before us. Our motivation to
on a related subject. Such action can       do so increased with the release of the
in turn inform subsequent discussions       30 December 2021 message. We have
in the group and enable deeper study        additionally made some efforts to study
of the text and the correlated guid-        Ruhi Books 13 and 14. Studying such
ance. We are still at the early stages of   guidance has helped us to further ap-
cultivating this dynamic, but there is      preciate that reading reality and acting
evidence that it is taking hold in vari-    to transform it must go hand in hand.
ous groups. Some group members, for            The second element is the need for
example, are finding ways to link their     focus. There is still much to be learned
discussions to social action. Others are    about how to focus our energies, partic-
striving to ensure that they are more       ularly given our human resources. For
outward-oriented, both in terms of          example, we have identified several
what they are studying and with whom        priorities, but have not been able to ad-
they are acting and collaborating.          equately attend to all of them, such as
In addition, it has become clear-        working more closely with students on
er over the past ten years that the         university campuses or with academics
Association's mode of learning ad-          and professionals from the wider com-
vances when there are sufficient spaces       munity on exigent issues. However, we
for reflection. These include quarterly     are building capacity to concentrate on
reflection meetings as well as regular      various lines of action and to better ap-
smaller meetings and informal discus-       preciate how they and the correspond-
sions that bring together the different      ing activities are mutually enriching—
committees and collaborators to share       how, for example, seminars, reading
insights and review progress, challeng-     groups, writing projects, other smaller
es, and opportunities for growth, and       collective endeavours, the conference,
study relevant guidance. For exam-          and publishing, are related, feed into,
ple, as we resume an annual in-person       and benefit from each other. Moreover,
conference with several seminars and        the vision and objects of learning we
breakout sessions featuring learn-          have identified as an association (see
ing generated within various small          Section 5.1) have both emerged out
group settings throughout the year,         of, and further shaped, which lines of
the level of collaboration between the      action we have chosen to assiduously
Conference Committee and CCI has            pursue—recognizing, of course, that
correspondingly increased. We have          accumulating experience and regular
28                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

input from participants and collabora-       text they are reading with passages
tors may disclose new prospects worth        from the writings, with their own ex-
exploring.                                   perience, and with the insights of their
The third element is the challenge        fellow participants. At the same time,
of fostering capacity and accompa-           the group is encouraged to view itself
nying others in service. It has become       as part of a larger learning process,
evident that a posture of accompani-         growing and developing in conjunction
ment is central to eliciting insights;       with other ABS endeavours. Again, as
building momentum; removing, and             we gain more experience with these
learning from, obstacles; fostering ca-      groups and other specialized settings,
pacity; and promoting organic growth.        a question before us is how to multiply
As noted under Sections 2 and 4 above,       these endeavours in a way that strikes
this posture has played a significant        a healthy balance between centraliza-
role in the development of reading           tion and decentralization and is attuned
groups, working groups, and, more            to all the elements of the conceptual
recently, writing groups. An objective       framework discussed in this section.
now is to expand the nucleus of friends          The fifth element consists of the in-
who can accompany a widening net-            stitutional arrangements necessary
work of facilitators, who can in turn        to sustain ever more complex patterns
help with encouraging and coordinat-         of activity. To address the complexity
ing the expansion and consolidation of       of current patterns of activity, the in-
a growing number of collaborative set-       stitutional arrangements have evolved
tings that "operate . . . on the principle   into the following configuration: the
of universal participation" (OSED, 26        Executive Committee; the Committee
November 2012).                              for Collaborative Initiatives, which co-
The fourth element is the dynam-          ordinates the settings described under
ics of organic development. As is im-        Section 2 and related lines of action;
plicit in the foregoing comments, this       the Journal of Bahá'í Studies Editorial
element of the framework has proven          Committee; the ABS Publications
vital to all aspects of the Association's    Committee, which focuses on publish-
work. For example, as noted in Section       ing books; the Conference Committee;
2 above, a newly formed reading group        and various ad hoc and/or short-term
is encouraged to see itself as a setting     task forces. In addition, the number of
that aims to advance understanding           remunerated ABS staff (now equaling
about contributing to a particular dis-      approximately 4.0 full-time employ-
course. At the outset, the group is          ees) has had to grow given the conti-
encouraged not to take on too much.          nental mandate of the Association and
Rather, its main objective is to create      the evolving complexity of the work.
a consultative space in which partic-        Much of the work entails collaborating
ipants can reflectively develop their        with hosts of individuals volunteering
capacity to correlate ideas from the         their time and energy to facilitate or
Ten Year Retrospective                              29

coordinate reading groups, working         be judicious yet clear about its needs
groups, collaborative projects, work-      going forward, indicating that meeting
shops, seminars, elements of the con-      them is a priority.
ference, writing endeavours, and so on.        The sixth element is the coherence
The list of volunteers has been slowly     required among all areas of endeav-
expanding in response. However, we         our. As stated above, the Association
are finding that building a vibrant net-   has been striving to further articulate
work of volunteers requires those serv-    its approach to identifying and refining
ing in remunerated positions and close     objects of learning, setting goals, and
collaborators to devote substantial time   documenting experience and decisions.
to supporting, analyzing, synthesizing,    We have been regularly reflecting on,
and disseminating learning.                and identifying, next steps for each
Also critical to advancing the work     line of action; assessing the coherence
of the Association has been the system-    between these lines of action and how
atization of its administrative practic-   they contribute to and profit from each
es. We have paid significant attention     other; and developing a robust system
to establishing suitably coherent pro-     for the retention, updating, and flow
cesses supported by apposite techno-       of information. This sixth element we
logical solutions. The administrative      view as tied to the seventh element,
work involves the provision of support     which consists of sound relations
to the Executive Committee and oth-        among individuals, the community,
er committees and includes attending       and the institutions. Here, a major ob-
to logistical matters related to the an-   jective of the Executive Committee—
nual conference and seminars, book-        still very much in development—has
keeping, managing data, maintaining        been to facilitate the creation of plans
the website, facilitating the editorial    of action for each of the Association's
process, keeping minutes, handling         areas of focus; to disseminate learning
correspondence, providing IT support,      across its committees as appropriate;
and carrying out other sundry tasks. As    to create spaces for the ongoing gen-
the work of the Association evolves,       eration of insights aimed at articulating
the volume of the administrative           an evolving unity of vision of growth;
work naturally grows, too. Given the       to consult with and accompany staff
advances over the last ten years, and      members and collaborators in their ef-
particularly over the last three years,    forts to further coordinate their work;
the question of the human resources        and to explore possibilities with, and
required to sustain growth and manage      receive guidance from, the senior in-
the escalating administrative needs of     stitutions—all of which, finally, is
the organization is a regular topic of     directly related to the eighth element
consultation. To this end, the National    of the framework, namely, learning in
Spiritual Assembly of Canada has lov-      action.
ingly encouraged the Association to            As alluded to throughout this
30                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

document, we have been making a con-        the heart of most disciplines of human
scious effort to read reality through the    knowledge is a degree of consensus
lens of relevant guidance, to build on      about methodology—an understanding
strengths, and to cultivate "an ongoing     of methods and how to use them appro-
process of action, reflection, study, and   priately to systematically investigate
consultation to address obstacles and       reality to achieve reliable results and
share successes, re-examine and revise      sound conclusions." As the previous
strategies and methods, and systematize     sections of this retrospective attest, this
and improve efforts over time" (24 July      aspect of the framework has received
2013). We have certainly not mastered       attention in at least three ways. First,
this process, but we feel confident in      within the various settings described
affirming that we are now much more           under Sections 2 and 3 above, the
cognizant than we were ten years ago        Association has made a concerted ef-
of the power of learning in action to       fort to enable participants to "reflect on
engender growth in the intellectual life    the implications that the truths found
of the community, and of the elements       in the Revelation may hold for their
involved in doing so. We are similarly      work" and related discourses. The de-
more aware that "[a]s unity of thought      gree to which this has been achieved
around essential concepts emerges [it       has naturally varied from setting to set-
is] useful to explore fresh approaches      ting and depends upon many factors,
with some simple steps that can grow        such as the duration of the setting or
in complexity. Gradually, those aspects     process of inquiry, the experience and
of the conceptual framework pertain-        time availability of the participants,
ing to intellectual inquiry in diverse      and the quality of the consultative en-
fields will become clearer and grow         vironment that is created.
richer" (24 July 2013). These aspects,          Second, we have—particularly in
we believe, have become clearer. They       more recent years—focused on ex-
have, consequently, empowered us to         panding our understanding of, and
more effectively learn how to learn as       applying, the elements of the concep-
an association.                             tual framework required to promote
the evolution of the Association itself.
5.3 G                                       In addition to those discussed in the
previous subsection (5.2), and in view
of the conviction that those engaged
In the next paragraph of the 24 July        in scholarly pursuits "are not exempt
2013 message, the House of Justice          from the obligations placed upon any
goes on to explain that "One of the         believer" (24 July 2013), we have tak-
critical aspects of a conceptual frame-     en to heart the importance of framing
work that will require careful attention    participation in the Association's activ-
in the years ahead is the generation        ities in line with the Universal House
and application of knowledge . . . At       of Justice's descriptions of enkindled
Ten Year Retrospective                              31

souls in recent messages. These souls       the year prior. All three functioned
as spaces to consolidate and share
emphasize qualities and atti-             insights both within and across disci-
tudes—such as trustworthiness,            plinary groups. Throughout the year, in
cooperation, and forbearance—             advance of each seminar, participants,
that are building blocks of a stable      organized in disciplinary groups, held
social order. They champion ratio-        online meetings (some more frequent-
nality and science as essential for       ly than others) to discuss assigned
human progress. They advocate             pre-readings and related questions on
tolerance and understanding, and          themes such as the harmony of science
with the inherent oneness of hu-          and religion, the limits of objectivity,
manity uppermost in their minds,          the nature of knowledge, the implica-
they view everyone as a potential         tions of materialism for various fields
partner to collaborate with. . . . (30    of study, and the qualities and attitudes
December 2021)                            they want to adopt when participating
in the generation of knowledge. These
Ablaze with divine love, they also          seminars also gave birth to a couple of
strive to disseminate this love             collaborative initiatives and writing
groups, including one on social sci-
through intimate conversations            ence methodologies discussed under
that create new susceptibilities in       Sections 2 and 4 above. Plans are cur-
human hearts, open minds to mor-          rently being made for another method-
al persuasion, and loosen the hold        ology seminar to be held in the fall of
of biased norms and social systems        2023.
so that they can gradually take on
a new form in keeping with the                   6. A
requirements of humanity's age of
maturity. (22 July 2020)                  Towards the end of the 24 July 2013
message, the House of Justice stresses
Third, with a view towards explor-       the pivotal role of the training institute,
ing spaces for learning and addressing      but then explains that "whatever the
the vital question of methodologies,        scope of its curriculum and no matter
the Executive Committee, along with         how fundamental it is to the progress
two key collaborators, organized three      of the community, involvement in the
two-day seminars (2019-21) for grad-        institute is only a part of a lifetime of
uate students and faculty to assemble       inquiry in which these friends will be
and explore the question of method-         engaged—one that will include ex-
ology within their respective fields        ploration of the Revelation as well as
and to discuss the implications of the      various disciplines of knowledge."
Revelation for this facet of scholarship.   As such, the House of Justice "looks
Each seminar built on the learning of       to rising generations of Bahá'ís to
32                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

wholeheartedly address a wide range         build on the approaches and content of
of intellectual challenges, overcome        the institute, thus further enabling par-
all pitfalls and obstacles, and ren-        ticipants to "enter diverse social spaces
der service for the betterment of the       and fields of human endeavour" (24
world"; anticipates that "in the decades    July 2013), "explicate the principles"
ahead…a host of believers will enter        the Bahá'í community advocates, and
diverse social spaces and fields of hu-     "demonstrate their applicability to the
man endeavour"; and asserts that "[t]o      issues facing humanity" (30 December
this arena, pregnant with possibilities,    2021).
the Association for Bahá'í Studies can
offer an important contribution."                          A           A:
We have been learning how partic-              S       G       I
ipating in the institute constructively
affects the work of the Association and      Wਏ਒਋ਓਈਏਐ Sਅਓਓਉਏ਎ਓ
how immersing ourselves in its meth-
ods and approaches further propels this       2021
work forward. Ruhi Book 14 is directly      Facilitator preparatory sessions: 3
relevant in this regard, but so are other   (26 participants)
books, such as Ruhi Books 2, 10, and        Workshop sessions: 14
13. Together, they help to further attune   (112 participants)
us to the elements of the framework
that bear directly on promoting the           2022
intellectual life of the community and,     Facilitator preparatory sessions: 2
hence, the mandate of the Association       (10 participants)
itself.                                     Workshop sessions: 13
These books also assist in disclosing     (145 participants)
to us the degree to which this arena is
pregnant with possibilities—particu-          2023
larly now, given both the momentum          Facilitator prep sessions: 1
being generated around North America        (7 participants)
as the friends apply the elements of        Workshop sessions: 6 as of July 2023
the Nine Year Plan, and the growing         (42 participants)
contingents of youth and young adults
benefiting from the programs of ISGP.       R         G
As noted above, these programs have
shaped how participants are thinking          2020
about their lives and intellectual de-      1. Achieving Coherence in Media
velopment, as well as how they are          2. Arts and the Pandemic
adopting and applying the conceptual        3. Business Capital, Access, and
framework. Such developments bode               Justice
well for the Association as it seeks to     4. Business Management
Ten Year Retrospective                            33

5.  Commodification of Knowledge          11. Southern      California    Media
6.  Constructive Agency                       Professionals
7.  Education                             12. Speculative Fiction
8.  Evolving Role of Law Enforcement      13. Storytelling and Cinema
9.  Ideological Foundations of Racism     14. Technology and Society I
and Crime/Deviance                    15. Book: The Half Has Never Been
10. Inquiries into World Order                Told: Slavery and The Making of
11. International Property Law                American Capitalism by Edward
12. Jurisprudence                             E. Baptist
13. Justice in the Age of Globalization   16. The Village Storehouse
14. Minds, Brains, and Consciousness      17. Transdisciplinarity     and   the
15. Questioning Econ 101                      Intersection of Scientific and
16. Race, Africanity, and the Bahá'í          Spiritual/Religious     Knowledge
Faith                                     Systems in Public Health I
17. Science, Religion and the             18. Urbanism: Housing
Generation of Knowledge (2            19. Virtue, Freedom, and Community:
groups)                                   Insights from Influential Women
18. Teaching Economics After Covid            Thinkers I—Simone Weil
19. Youth, Narrative Media, and
Cultural Production                   Total number of participants: 154

Total number of participants: 206           2022
1. Adolescent Nutrition
2021                                    2. Chaos, Complexity, and the
1. Building Structural Competency in          Natural/Human Sciences
the Classroom and Clinical Setting    3. Climate       Change      and    the
2. Climate Change                             Environment
3. Climate Crisis Narratives              4. Crisis and Opportunity: Towards
4. Education for Social Justice in the        a Vision of Sustainable Global
Age of Globalization                      Development
5. Examining Health Equity                5. Book: Eating the Landscape:
6. Exploring the Role of Asian                American Indian Stories of Food,
Pacific Islanders in Eradicating          Identity, and Resilience by Enrique
Anti-Blackness                            Salmón
7. Book: Food Security: From Excess       6. Critiques of Capitalism
to Enough by Ralph C. Martin          7. Discourses of Diplomacy I
8. Book: Moral Empowerment: In            8. Book: Farming While Black: Soul
Quest of a Pedagogy by Sona               Fire Farm's Practical Guide to
Arbab I                                   Liberation on the Land by Leah
9. Narrative and Ethics                       Penniman
10. Reparations and Reconciliation        9. Book: Finding the Mother Tree, by
34                The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

Suzanne Simard                            Wangari Maathai
10. Book: Food, Farmer, and               27. Urbanism:        Community        &
Community: Agriculture and the            Wellbeing
Reconstruction of the World, by       28. Urbanism: Neighbourhood &
Winnona Merritt                           Community
11. Book: Freedom Farmers: Agriculture    29. Virtue, Freedom, and Community:
Resistance and the Black Freedom          Insights from Influential Women
Movement by Monica White                  Thinkers II—Hannah Arendt
12. Historical     and    Philosophical   30. Virtue, Freedom, and Community:
Understanding of Complexity,              Insights from Influential Women
Emergence, and Chaos                      Thinkers III—Iris Murdoch
13. Book: How To Feed The World, ed-      31. Whiteness and Patriarchy: Weeding
ited by Jessica Eise and Ken Foster       Out Barriers to Oneness, Cultivating
14. Investigations      into     Media,       Justice and Authenticity, I
Knowledge, and Culture                32. World       Citizenship     as     a
15. Just and Sustainable Artificial           Performative Revolutionary Act
Intelligence I                        33. World Government Narratives
16. Book: Life in the Soil: A Guide
for Naturalists and Gardeners by      Total number of participants: 269
James B. Nardi
17. Book: Moral Empowerment: In             2023 (       J     24)
Quest of a Pedagogy by Sona           1. Discourses of Diplomacy II:
Arbab II                                  Identifying Correlations with
18. Nature of Work I                          Bahá'í Concepts
19. Nature of Work II                     2. Books: How to Feed the World,
20. News Articles on Climate and              Edited by Jessica Eise and Ken
Agriculture                               Foster and Food, Farmer, and
21. Overcoming         Material    and        Community: Agriculture and the
Spiritual Barriers to Racial Unity:       Reconstruction of the World, com-
Reviewing The Sum of Us by                piled by Winnona Merritt
Heather McGhee I                      3. Indigenous Studies
22. Psychology of Social Change           4. Just and Sustainable Artificial
23. Book: Resetting the Table: Straight       Intelligence II
Talk About the Food We Grow and       5. Just and Sustainable Artificial
Eat by Robert Paarlberg                   Intelligence III
24. Technology and Society II             6. Looking at Community Building
25. Transdisciplinarity      and    the       from an Evolutionary Perspective:
Intersection of Scientific and            Contributions from Anthropology
Spiritual / Religious Knowledge           and Neuroscience
Systems in Public Health II           7. Methodological         Approaches
26. Book: Unbowed, A Memoir by                to the Study of Religion
Ten Year Retrospective                             35

within the Discipline of History:     21. Whiteness and Patriarchy: Weeding
An Examination of Religion and            Out Barriers to Oneness, Cultivating
Speculative Approaches in the             Justice and Authenticity II
Works of Arnold Toynbee
8. Overcoming         Material     and    Total number of participants to date:
Spiritual Barriers to Racial Unity:   219
Reviewing The Sum of Us by
Heather McGhee II                     S
9. Book: Regenesis: Feeding the
World Without Devouring the             2016
Planet by George Monbiot              1. Education
10. Book: Reinventing Organizations:      2. Health
A Guide to Creating Organizations
Inspired by the Next Stage of              2017
Human Consciousness by Frédéric                   Working Group Seminars
Laloux
1.    Health Working Group (WG)
11. Speech/Language Pathology
2.    Economies WG
12. Storytelling and Cinema
3.    Law WG
13. Technology and Society III
4.    Media WG
14. The Modern Intellectual Tradition
I: From the Scientific Revolution                 Thematic Seminars
to Immanuel Kant                      1. Religion and Society
15. The Modern Intellectual Tradition
II: From German Idealism to           Total number of participants: 122
Nietzsche
16. The Nature of Work: Perspectives           2018
of Race, Gender, Education, and                   Working Group Seminars
Justice
1.    Health WG
17. The Role of Women in Society: An
2.    Law WG
Exploration of Mothers as the First
3.    Media WG
Educators, Equality, and Social
4.    Technology WG
Change
18. Book: The Systems View of Life:       Total number of participants: 149
A Unifying Vision by Fritjof Capra
and Pier Luigi Luisi                       2019
19. Towards Vibrant Communities and
Gardening                                         Working Group Seminars
20. Transdisciplinarity     and     the   1.    Economies WG
Intersection of Scientific and        2.    Health WG (a)
Spiritual / Religious Knowledge       3.    Health WG (b)
Systems in Public Health III          4.    Law WG
36               The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 33.1-2 2023

5. Media WG                               3. Narrative and Local Storytelling
Thematic Seminars                 4. Resilient Communities
5. Science and Religion
1. Methodologies     in   Academic
Research                               Total number of participants: 136
2. Propaganda
3. The Bahá'í Faith and Liberalism          2023 (       J    24)
4. Education                                     Thematic Seminars
Total number of participants: 258         1. A Revelation Scientific in Its
Method
2020                                    2. Brain, Behavior, and Mental Health
1. Business                                   in Youth: Exploring Underlying
2. Methodologies      in    Academic          Frameworks and Forces
Research                              3. Climate       Change     and   the
Environment
Total number of participants: 52          4. Collective Inquiry and Social
Action: Considering Participatory
2021                                         Action Research in Theory and
Working Group Seminars                Practice
5. Engaging Introductory Economics
1. Media   WG         (seminar      and
from a Bahá'í Perspective
symposium)
6. Health Equity
7. Navigating Materialist Assumptions
Thematic Seminars                     in the Study of Biology
1. Questioning Econ 101                   8. Technology and Society
2. Methodologies    in  Academic          9. Telling the Story of an Evolving
Research                                   World Order
10. The       Commodification      of
Total number of participants: 170             Knowledge
11. Trust: The Investigation of Truth
2022                                         and Health Care Delivery
Working Group Seminars            12. Methodologies       in   Academic
Research (in planning)
1. Africana Studies WG
2. Health WG                              Total number of participants to date:
3. Media WG                               202

Thematic Seminars
1. Climate Change
2. Cooperatives and Next Systems
-- Ten Year Retrospective, 24 July 2023 (Used by permission of the curator)