Back to Wilmette Institute main page
Back to Wilmette Institute Catalogue Table of Contents
click here for the 2001 Distance-Learning Course catalogue or
click here for the 2001 Spiritual Foundations catalogue
INTRODUCTION
In January 1995 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States established the Wilmette Institute, which offers academic, professional, and service-oriented courses related to the Bahá'í Faith. The Institute was established a year before the Universal House of Justice sent a series of messages to the Bahá'í world, starting in December 1995, calling on it to establish training institutes and centers of learning. The Wilmette Institute seeks to continue to be a trend-setter in Bahá'í education, especially in creating courses for Bahá'ís that are at a university level of rigor and are available for university credit. It also fosters Bahá'í scholarship; develops new, innovative curricular materials; creates high-quality courses on teaching the Faith; and refines Bahá'í concepts of pedagogy. Its principal purpose is developing human resources in the Bahá'í community to advance the process of entry by troops. It aims to produce teachers and administrators of the Bahá'í Faith of great capacity, capable of demonstrating the Bahá'í truths in their lives as well as by their speech, able to teach Bahá'ís and their friends in classrooms, homes, and other settings.
The Institute's first major decision was to establish a four-year program to raise up diverse, knowledgeable, and articulate teachers and administrators of the Faith. This program–the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program–seeks to relate the Bahá'í Faith, its community, and its teachings to the world at large. The program teaches Bahá’í topics in the context of related subjects, such as history, philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, political theory, and economics. Such an academic approach to the Faith was inspired by the following statement written on behalf of the Guardian: "an effort should be made to raise the standard of studies, so as to provide the Bahá’í student with a thorough knowledge of the Cause that would enable him to expound it befittingly to the educated public" (Compilation of Compilations, no. 486). Because of its academic approach, the Spiritual Foundations program seeks to provide its students with the opportunity to obtain undergraduate and graduate university credit every year. The Spiritual Foundations program is the heart of the Wilmette Institute.
In the summer of 1997 the Wilmette Institute offered its first "minicourse," a week-long residential course on the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh during the Baghdad period. In January 1998 it began a series of weekend minicourses at Bosch Bahá'í School on world religions and philosophies in Bahá'í perspective. Also that month it inaugurated its first correspondence course–"The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, 1853-68." In September 1998 the Wilmette Institute Board decided to establish a "General Studies in the Bahá’í Faith" program from its correspondence courses and minicourses. Other courses are gradually being developed–some from the Spiritual Foundations curricular materials–that may be taken independently, without a requirement to spend time in Wilmette. The Institute may eventually create certificate programs involving completion of a combination of courses. In the fall of 1999 the Institute inaugurated a plan for developing four new series of distance-learning courses by 2004. It redesigned the Spiritual Foundations program so that distance-learning courses are a part of its requirements.
This catalog seeks to present a comprehensive overview of the Wilmette Institute and its various programs–especially the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program–and to provide all the information necessary to enroll in a course or otherwise contribute to the Institute's efforts. We invite you to read through the catalogue carefully and to contact the Institute with any questions or suggestions. It is through consultation and service that the Wilmette Institute will continue to develop.
The Wilmette Institute, an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly, operates as a center of learning, offering academic, professional, and service-oriented programs related to the Bahá'í Faith. It offers well-organized, formally conducted programs of training that are designed according to standards of academic excellence and the Bahá'í standard of independent investigation of truth in a spirit of humility, service, and unity.[1] It seeks to contribute to the development of human resources within the Bahá'í community to advance the process of entry by troops.[2] The Wilmette Institute's programs and services aim to enhance unity and fellowship among all people regardless of their ethnic, national, and religious background. Its services are available to students all over the world. It aspires to become a national center of learning, a training institute, and to evolve into a dependency of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Illinois.[3] MISSION STATEMENT OF THE WILMETTE INSTITUTE
The Wilmette Institute is coordinated by a Board appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. Currently its membership consists of Iraj Ayman, Roger Dahl, Nancy Davis, Manuchehr Derakhshani, Betty J. Fisher, Gayle Morrison, Keyvan Nazerian, Robert H. Stockman, and Geoff Wilson. The Board meets once a month to discuss and coordinate all aspects of the Institute. It has three officers: a chair (Nancy Davis), a secretary (Robert Stockman), and a treasurer (Geoff Wilson). An Operations Committee makes emergency decisions between meetings. A series of task forces, which report to the Wilmette Institute Board, carry out various aspects of the Board's work: Admissions and Financial Aid, Curriculum, Development, Finances, Persian Language, and Publications and Publicity. Robert H. Stockman is the Administrator of the Wilmette Institute. Jonah Winters is the Registrar of the Wilmette Institute's distance-learning courses and Pamela Mondschein is registrar for the Spiritual Foundations program. Pam also serves as bursar. WILMETTE INSTITUTE ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
Footnotes:
[1] "Large-scale growth necessitates sustained measures of consolidation. The urgent requirement is for formally conducted programmes of training through institutes and other centres of learning" (italics added) (Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the world, December 31, 1995).
"There should be no delay in establishing permanent institutes designed to provide well-organized, formally conducted programs of training on a regular schedule." (Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the world, Ridván 153).
"But also of vital importance to bringing about entry by troops is a realistic approach, systematic action. There are no shortcuts. Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well-conceived plans. In a general sense, it implies an orderliness of approach in all that pertains to Bahá'í service, whether in teaching or administration, in individual initiative and spontaneity, it suggests the need to be clear-headed, methodical, efficient, constant, balanced and harmonious. Systematization is a necessary mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act. (Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the world, Ridvan 1998)
[2] Towards ensuring an orderly evolution of the community, a function of Bahá'í institutions is to organize and maintain a process of developing human resources whereby Bahá'ís, new and veteran alike, can acquire the knowledge and capacity to sustain a continuous expansion and consolidation of the community. The establishment of training institutes is critical to such effort, since they are centres through which large numbers of individuals can acquire and improve their ability to teach and administer the Faith. Their existence underscores the importance of knowledge of the Faith as a source of power for invigorating the life of the Bahá'í community and of the individuals who compose it. (Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the world, Riván 155)
[3] "Systematic attention has to be given by Bahá'í institutions to training a significant number of believers and assisting them in serving the Cause according to their God-given talents and capacities. The development of human resources on a large scale requires that the establishment of institutes be viewed in a new light." (Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Board of Counselors, December 26, 1995)