The first scholarly conference of the Corinne True Center for Bahá’í History was a great success, with seventy people in attendance. Six of the fourteen speakers were in their twenties or thirties, demonstrating a strong involvement in Bahá’í scholarship among the next generation. Four of the talks focused on African or African-American themes, a significant commitment to diversity in the subjects studied. Talks examined topics related to Bahá’í history, Islamic studies, philosophy, the writings of Shoghi Effendi, medievalism, historical consciousness, ecology, and Iranian Bahá’í prison poetry.
At the very beginning of the conference—supper on Friday evening—one participant observed that the conference was a historic development in encouraging an aspect of Bahá’í Studies that another participant called “Bahá’í humanities.” The importance of the conference was felt by many, which gave the conference an atmosphere of excitement. Many felt inspired by their involvement; two people emailed Committee members afterward saying they planned to do research on the historical involvement of their own families in the Faith. Several people who watched the livestream wrote afterwards to thank the committee for making their participation possible at a distance. Eleven of the fourteen presentations were livestreamed and recorded—technical problems prevented broadcasting the others—and in the coming days the recordings will be edited so that each talk will be available as a separate recording on the Corinne True Center’s YouTube channel. They will also be linked on the conference’s web page, which will be available permanently as a record of the event. Six of the presentations are or will be published in existing journals or as portions of books. As many as seven others could be published in written form, which highlights the high quality of the program.
Afterward, Todd Lawson wrote to a member of the Executive Committee, “I have never felt so positive and hopeful about Bahá’í scholarship. Bravo to … the whole team. It was a splendid weekend.” The Executive Committee has decided to schedule next year’s conference for the weekend of June 26-28, 2026.
One participant, Cathy Higgins, published this review of the conference on her blog:
I attended a conference this weekend at the wonderful Green Acre Centre of Learning in Eliot, Maine. . . .
This was the first conference sponsored by the newly established Corinne True Center for Bahá’í History. From Friday evening through Sunday at noon, a total of 14 scholars gave presentations on a wide range of topics in a variety of formats. Although there were technical difficulties when attempting to live stream each session, I look forward to either watching the recordings and/or reading the various papers presented.
Since I have a place to stay nearby, I was a commuter to Green Acre, but most folks stayed on campus. . . . We all enjoyed several wonderful meals in the dining hall at the Sarah Farmer Inn. . . . Kudos to the staff and volunteers who hosted another wonderful weekend of deep thought, prayer, visits with old and new friends, and tasty meals.
Here are a few of my notes as I reflect on the sessions. Overall, it was a stellar event for me, as a lover of history and especially of biography. Although I have a doctoral degree myself, I’ve worked much more in the practical realm, so my level of researching and publishing is not even close to the level of the academics who presented. Nonetheless, I am inspired to “up my game” over the next year. Out of the 14 presenters, a few were seasoned professors, a few were mid-career, and several were young and creative. All of them provided so much food for thought.
- Todd Lawson’s talk on Friday evening was about the Surih of Joseph and so much more. When he began his talk, he pointed out that metaphors are essential to our learning about God and the unseen world. Being able to connect to things in the physical world helps us to grasp concepts that aren’t physical. I was somewhat mesmerized as I watched Dr. Lawson’s responses in various discussions throughout the weekend because it was almost like you could see his mind reverently connecting to invisible thought bubbles.
- Matthew Hughey described his study of articles on race that were published in the very first Bahá’í magazines of the U.S. during the early 1900’s, such as World Unity and Bahá’í World. I really enjoyed hearing how deeply he analyzed the articles in these publications—some of which were quite jarring. He is working on a book which will contain much more beyond what we heard during this short presentation.
- Richard Hollinger highlighted several lesser-known Bahá’í figures involved in race unity efforts prior to the civil rights era. He shared so many names that I’d never heard of, so I hope he’ll publish more about them because I want to know more about their lives!
- Janice Ndegwa’s talk on the growth of the Bahá’í Faith in Africa during the early 1950’s was quite fascinating. I really enjoyed her slides and narrative, full of maps and other graphics that provided context to the activities and people involved.
- Julie Gentzkow provided a huge number of photos of Dr. Elsie Austin and her family. We learned that her mother was very instrumental in the establishment of the Tuskegee Institute. There were so many more details about her family that, again, I hope she will publish her slides or a full paper.
- Joshua Hall is immersed in some fascinating studies of philosophy, some of which he shared in his talk. He talked about the rational soul, materialism, and more ideas related to the powers of the mind. As he’s currently immersed in doctoral work at UCLA, I look forward to reading many more interesting insights in the years to come from Joshua.
- Todd Smith discussed historical consciousness, the need to recognize the oneness of humanity, especially as we are living in an age where both disintegration and integration are occurring to move humanity forward. While I was wishing Dr. Smith had slides to accompany his talk, since I find visuals to be extremely helpful in grasping abstract concepts, I look forward to being able to spend some time reading and reflecting on the paper he presented because his ideas deserve more reflection.
- Brent Poirier’s topic was on the institution of the Guardianship in the Bahá’í Faith. He had a handout for us with numbered lines for ease in locating the text he was discussing. This handout was incredibly helpful as we took a look at specific sentences within several passages about the topic.
- Iqan Shahidi shared a lovely comparative study in which he analyzed four Bahá’í scholars’ (Davoudi, Hatcher, Arbab, and Smith) ideas about science and religion. His slides contained helpful notes about each scholar’s ideas. I was grateful to have the shapes, colors, and text of those slides as he talked.
- Sandra Hutchinson provided an evening presentation of the poems of Mahvash Sabet. Although I had to leave before Dr. Hutchinson’s presentation began, I must say this was no ordinary talk, as Sabet is no ordinary person. She was imprisoned for a decade in Evin Prison in Iran, solely because of her belief in the Bahá’í Faith—and although she was released, she has now been unjustly imprisoned yet again by Iranian authorities. This level of fortitude is well beyond what most of us are ever expected to endure as we face the difficulties of living in this world. Sabet’s poems are available through George Ronald Books.
- Adib Masumian has been translating into English many previously unpublished Bahá’í writings. Using newly translated material, Adib shared facts and insights about ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s second journey in Europe during 1912-13. This talk reminded me I started but haven’t finished reading his book about the trip!
- Chris White’s talk was an “oh my goodness” moment for me. I loved that he focused on environmental concerns and how we as humans need to understand the fundamental oneness of all things, including our need to recognize that materialism is fast overtaking our environment. In particular, I appreciated the first reference he made to Lynn White’s publication in 1967 on “The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis.” Note that in 1967 we were already recognizing the damage being done to the earth. I feel like memorizing this quote: “More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present ecologic crisis until we find a new religion or rethink our old one.” Note the reference to technology as we are immersed in our 21st century world full of social media, AI, and all the rest.
- James Russell’s talk on medievalism was just a fascinating journey into references to medievalism within the Bahá’í Writings. His slides included lots of images which enlivened and illustrated his points. The audience, in an audible response, clearly appreciated his comment about how the ISGP program for college students was basically a lifeline while he was immersed in his doctoral dissertation studies.
- Ney Grant was last but certainly not least in the expertise he shared about the philosophical writings of Hegel and the Bahá’í Faith’s focus on expanding oneness. His slides were fantastic and clearly showed that he understood the power of imagery to help viewers and readers better understand concepts being put forth. Again, I look forward to reading more of his papers.
A word of thanks must be given to the Executive Committee of the Corinne True Center for Bahá’í History for their hard work in putting this gathering together. This was a historic first conference, with many excellent scholars presenting thought-provoking ideas. I can’t wait till next year!
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