50th ABS Annual Conference: Full Schedule

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

9:00am EDT

Beyond Systems of Belief: Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and the Reconfiguration of Human Knowledge

Saturday August 8, 2026 9:00am - 10:15am EDT

Contemporary societies face fragmentation marked by political polarization, tribalism, and increasingly materialistic worldviews. This presentation explores religious revelation—particularly the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh—not as a system of beliefs, but as a transformation in how knowledge is generated, integrated, and disseminated. Drawing on insights from philosophy, literary theory, and historical precedents, it examines how revelation disrupts rigid rational frameworks and enables new forms of intellectual synthesis. It further argues that mystical experience, far from opposing reason, provides a standpoint above all knowledge systems from which such synthesis becomes possible. Participants are invited to consider the role of Bahá'ís as learners and interlocutors, contributing humbly to collaborative discourses on humanity's collective maturation.

Speakers

Darius Amanat-Markazi

Darius Amanat-Markazi studies architecture at the University of Waterloo. He completed the Foundation Year Program at the University of King’s College where he studied the history of Western thought and received the Peggy Heller Memorial Prize, awarded annually to the top-performing... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
209

Study of the Writings, Breakout

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10:30am EDT

Beyond Certification: Raising up New Human Resources in Health Promotion

LIMITED

Saturday August 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:45am EDT

209

Limited Capacity seats available

Shortages in primary health care providers have driven efforts to identify new resources to support healthy patterns of life. Physician extenders and health promoters have demonstrated efficacy in fostering behavior change, but consistent funding to hire people into these roles has been elusive. Participants in this workshop will reflect on how other countries have addressed this need, hear about early experience with training volunteer youth health promoters, and consult on how insights gained from experience with the framework for action could be brought to bear on this challenge to health equity.

Speakers

Darius Loghmanee

I am a physician who works in pediatric sleep medicine. For the past eleven years I have been making efforts to build a population sleep health program drawing on elements of the framework for action described by the Universal House of Justice.

Saturday August 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:45am EDT
209

Health, Breakout

2:00pm EDT

Consultation in Clinical Practice: From Patient-Centred Care to Shared Moral Agency in Dentistry

LIMITED

Saturday August 8, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT

209

Limited Capacity seats available

Contemporary healthcare emphasizes patient-centred care, yet power imbalances and procedural communication often limit genuine partnership. This presentation proposes Bahá’í consultation as a framework that deepens patient-centred practice by reframing the clinician–patient relationship as a shared search for truth grounded in humility, dignity, and unity of purpose. Drawing on health communication literature and clinical examples from dentistry, the session explores how consultation can strengthen trust and ethical decision-making. Participants will engage in reflection on how these principles may be applied within their own professional contexts.

Speakers

Kion Hatam

Dr. Kion Hatam views his professional life as an avenue for contributing to collective well-being. His long-standing involvement in community service and mentorship reflects a commitment to social responsibility and accompaniment. In his work, he strives to foster growth in individuals... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT
209

Health, Breakout

3:30pm EDT

Learning as a Core Capability for Enduring Businesses

LIMITED

Saturday August 8, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT

209

Limited Capacity seats available

Why do some businesses rise spectacularly, only to collapse under the weight of their own success, while others endure? In an era defined by data and analytics, even the most information-rich enterprises struggle to respond when signals from society challenge their definitions of success. This interactive session explores how narrow definitions of value and the absence of effective learning systems constrain organizational progress. Drawing on Bahá’í principles such as humility, consultation, and collective responsibility, participants will engage a framework for learning that enables organizations to endure and contribute to the advancement of material and spiritual civilization. Participants will be encouraged to carry this inquiry into ongoing discourses on business, technology, and civilization.

Speakers

Shadi Davari

Shadi Davari is a software engineer in the finance industry and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering with a second major in Economics. Guided by Bahá’í values and her experience as the only woman in many... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT
209

Business, Breakout

50th ABS Annual Conference

9:00am EDT

Darius Amanat-Markazi

10:30am EDT

Darius Loghmanee

2:00pm EDT

Kion Hatam

3:30pm EDT

Shadi Davari

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