Background
The Wilmette Institute was founded in 1995 to provide advanced, academic-level courses and information about the Bahá’í Faith. Its name refers to Wilmette, Illinois, where the Bahá’í House of Worship for North America is located. Its guiding principles are as follows:
*Universal peace and justice will be realized through a global consciousness of the oneness of humanity and the interconnectedness of the earth and all its inhabitants.
*Both science and religion are essential to building an ever-advancing civilization.
*Systemic social problems require a holistic approach to discover lasting solutions.
*Scholarship does not begin and end with words but combines theory and praxis in study, consultation, action and reflection.
*Sustainable social change requires the development of human capacity, in order for people to become protagonists of their own material and spiritual development
Graduate-level Certificate Program
Since 2023, WI has offered an online distance learning graduate-level certificate in Social Transformation.
Current Partnerships
NCCU (North Carolina Central University)–5-Year Memorandum of Understanding
In collaboration with stakeholders at NCCU, in Durham, North Carolina, the Wilmette Institute introduced the idea of using the arts as a catalyst for prevalent discourses in society. In November 10–13th, 2022, the NCCU Department of Theatre and Dance headed by Dr. Stephanie (Asabi) Howard, in collaboration with the Wilmette Institute, hosted a powerful play, The Bus Stop, to create a springboard for dialogical education about the pressing social issue of the mass incarceration of people of color.
Subsequently, from March 16 to 19, 2024, staff and faculty of Wilmette Institute visited NCCU. The main purpose of the visit was to engage in the first NCCU-WI In-Person Interdisciplinary Faculty Meeting. During the visit, WI Collaborators met with the NCCU Administration to draft a Memorandum of Understanding, which will be signed in the presence of the NCCU Chancellor later this year (2024).
The Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, California, is a consortium of 8 religious studies schools (5 Protestant, 2 Catholic, 1 Buddhist), several Centers for Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim Studies, plus 5 affiliated “institutes” which include the Wilmette Institute. GTU maintains the central library of the entire consortium and has its own faculty, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees. The Wilmette Institute offers 2 or 3 courses for credit every semester through GTU, which any of the students in the consortium can take.
On May 9, 2024, the Wilmette Institute (WI) celebrated its first Bahá’í graduate, Raya Hazini, who received her Master of Arts in Interreligious Studies from the Graduate Theological Union (GTU).
Previous Partnerships
The Wilmette Institute has signed an agreement with United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (UTS) where our courses have been taken for credit toward degrees. UTS is a seminary of the United Church of Christ located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It offers hybrid courses (through their learning platform and Zoom). United offers a master’s degree in religious studies that focuses on the Bahá’í Faith, which allows students to take up to six courses through the Wilmette Institute on Bahá’í subjects.
Our courses have been accepted for credit by Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary), two graduate schools, and two undergraduate colleges.
Webinars
The Wilmette Institute is interested in developing 30 to 60-minute modules on various aspects of the Bahá’í Faith that would be available via the web for free and could be played at any time. The modules would come with a video, faculty notes, and suggested readings and questions that relate to the topic. We would welcome suggestions for modules we should develop.
Guest Speakers
The Wilmette Institute has about 2 dozen active faculty. You can browse through their bios to see their specialties and subjects of interest. We will be glad to make recommendations to you and assist you in arranging for one of them to speak to your classes. All our faculty are familiar with Zoom and would not charge to make an appearance to your class.
Partner with us
We are available any time to answer questions by telephone, email, or Zoom. Contact Associate Director, Chitra Golestani at cgolestani@wilmetteinstitute.org, or call 877-945-6388 toll-free.
