50th ABS Annual Conference: Full Schedule

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

3:00pm EDT

Contributing to professional and academic fields at the level of thought

Friday August 7, 2026 3:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

This session provides an orientation to the activities and learning of the Association in seeking to pursue the mandate provided by the House of Justice in 2013:

Every believer has the opportunity to examine the forces operating in society and introduce relevant aspects of the teachings within the discourses prevalent in whatever social space he or she is present. It is, perhaps, as a means to enhance the abilities of the friends to explore such opportunities in relation to their scholarly interests that the endeavours of the Association for Bahá’í Studies can be conceived. Through the specialized settings it creates, the Association can promote learning among a wide range of believers across a wide range of disciplines.
(24 July 2013 – The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada)

Friday August 7, 2026 3:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
215

Workshop

9:00am EDT

Sexual Health Care and Education: Bridging the Gap between the Ideals of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation and Current Social Practices

LIMITED

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

215

Limited Capacity seats available

This presentation explores how core Bahá'í principles—the nobility of the individual, justice, equality of the sexes, chastity as spiritual empowerment, consultation and non-judgement—can inform compassionate, evidence-based, high-quality sexual health conversations, education, and clinical care. In our hypersexualized materialistic society, it has become necessary to shed light on these issues of sexuality, currently shrouded in shame and judgment. Drawing on our clinical and educational experiences, Bahá'í materials, and scientific evidence, we aim to discuss how we might bridge the gap between the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and our current society’s practices.

Speakers

Nisha Kansal

Nisha Kansal is a family physician and women’s healthcare provider in Toronto. She has a longstanding interest in the health of individuals and communities marginalized by social structures, with a particular interest in the health of racialized migrants and women. With a strong... Read More →

Melody Rowhani

Melody Rowhani is a Primary Healthcare Nurse Practitioner with a Masters in Public Health. She has experience in family health teams and community health in Ottawa. She currently practices at a children’s hospital in adolescent health and in a sexual health clinic. She helped launch... Read More →

Brooke Talisman

Brooke Talisman is a mother to two teens, a Birth and Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Parenting Program Facilitator and Trauma and Violence Informed Practitioner. She currently works at a not-for-profit outreach centre for young parents as the Perinatal Program Facilitator... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
215

Health, Breakout

10:30am EDT

The Elimination of Prejudice of all Kinds: Engaging with Social Discourse Related to Aging and Ageism

LIMITED

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

215

Limited Capacity seats available

Ageism is one of the most widespread and unacknowledged prejudices that permeates life in the 21st century. This presentation will look at how we can use the Baha’i Writings to address ageism using the lens of the oneness of humanity to understand how social institutions, such as nursing homes and segregated living environments, continue to reinforce prejudice against people based on their age. It will engage with sociological research as well as the experience of the presenter based on decades of public talks on ageism.

Speakers

Deborah van den Hoonaard

Deborah van den Hoonaard is professor emerita of Gerontology. Her research focuses on transitions associated with aging and the social meaning of being old. She has written books on widowhood, and published a number of papers, given numerous talks as well as media interviews on a... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 10:30am - 11:45am EDT
215

Community, Breakout

2:00pm EDT

Fostering Resilience: Psychological, Social and Spiritual Implications

LIMITED

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

215

Limited Capacity seats available

The concept of resilience has emerged as a way of characterizing improvement in individual psychological function and health. Resilience can be expanded to include the spiritual and social aspects of the individual and the community in which they serve. Groups such as nuclei of Baha'i activity, children's classes and the institute program strengthen not only the individuals involved but the social network surrounding them. This process is generational, advancing the society-building power of the teachings of Baha'u'llah. Resilience provides a useful model for understanding and a potential means of measuring outcomes of programs of growth.

Speakers

Louis Soucy

With a background in Psychology, Psychiatry and Medicine my interest in resilience stems from extensive clinical work over forty years in practice. I have lectured at ABS in the past, and have an academic appointment as an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa, providing... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT
215

Psychology, Breakout

3:30pm EDT

Depression: A Hunger for Spiritual Awakening

LIMITED

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

215

Limited Capacity seats available

The number of people experiencing emotional health challenges is increasing alarmingly. The point of view that religion and spirituality are just a crutch is outdated. Depression is in fact a call for spiritual awakening; the point of pain being the portal of entry to connect with our higher self. This session will introduce the science of neuropsychoimmunoendocrinology and mind/body practices -- one of these being the Inner Peace method, which we will introduce and demonstrate. This method uses guided imagery, breathing, and tapping alongside the Hidden Words, the Seven Valleys, Some Answered Questions and the short obligatory prayer as the foundation.

Speakers

Keyhan Ighanian

Keyhan Ighanian is a Norway-based psychotherapist, educator and author with over 30 years of experience in counselling, education, and group learning. His work is informed by a Bahá’í understanding of knowledge as a means of service, and by the principle that personal transformation... Read More →

Saturday August 8, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT
215

Psychology, Breakout

50th ABS Annual Conference

3:00pm EDT

9:00am EDT

Nisha Kansal

Melody Rowhani

Brooke Talisman

10:30am EDT

Deborah van den Hoonaard

2:00pm EDT

Louis Soucy

3:30pm EDT

Keyhan Ighanian

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