New Methodological and Theoretical Ideas in Baha’i Studies

What are the characteristic ways that Baha’is study religion – their own and others? How have Baha’is integrated Baha’i theological perspectives into their work, and how (and to what extent) have academic perspectives informed Baha’i belief, practice and community life? This panel takes up some of those questions, reflecting on key Baha'i ideas and how they shape new approaches to the study of religion. The first panelist examines how Baha'i ways of defining religion (as a system of knowledge and practice) might lead to new ways of studying religious people and communities.  The second panelist examines how bringing together new insights in disability studies and Baha'i studies could generate new ways of thinking about the medical model of disability and how disability relates to Baha'i ideas of religious and scientific progress. The third panelist examines what Baha’is involved in Religious Studies have said about possibilities for developing distinctive Baha’i-inspired perspectives on religious studies methods and theories.