Watch/Listen Now: "Compassionate Era: Bahá’í Teachings on the Animal Kingdom" recorded April 16th

Extension Courses

We bring together learners of diverse backgrounds and ages. Our courses facilitate personal and collective transformation through consultation, action, and reflection.

Browse Our Extension Courses
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WHY TAKE A WI COURSE?

The Wilmette Institute offers courses to people of diverse backgrounds and ages interested in world religions and Bahá'í history, texts, and teachings for individual and collective transformation. Our courses aim both to enhance personal understanding and to strengthen involvement in extension building.

Scholarship

Hone your writing and research skills

Critical Thinking

Engage in solution-based awareness of issues that matter to you most

Communication

Create presentations and contribute to discourse right where you are

Change Making

Gain a global perspective

Upcoming Extension Courses
Our Departments
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Social Transformation

Explore sustainable social change from an integrated spiritual and scientific perspective.

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Bahá’í History
& Texts

Analyze Bahá'í history and extension development; explore sacred texts.

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Religion, Theology
& Philosophy

Discover new perspectives on world religions, interfaith dialogue, and indigenous faith traditions.

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Relationships, Marriage
& Family

Build capacity for happy marriages that blend family life with spirituality and service for a healthy world.

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Independent Sections

Compose and create art that expresses your spiritual journey. Explore Bahá'í Administration, personal transformation, and extension building.

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Our Courses Will Inspire You to…

INVESTIGATE

Independently investigate reality to discern fact from conjecture.

ANALYZE

Analyze global issues through critical thinking.

APPLY

Apply knowledge, spiritual and scientific insights and skills for the common good.

EXAMINE

Examine the root causes of global issues from a Bahá'í perspective, and explore the prerequisites for building a just and peaceful society.

BUILD EXTENSION

Apply consultation, action, study, and reflection to extension-building through participatory social action and discourse.

ENGAGE

Engage family, friends, and extension in becoming change agents for their own spiritual and material well-being.

Testimonials

What an amazing course--fabulous, knowledgeable, spiritually Inspiring instructors and enthusiastic well read participants! Delight upon delight. Boundless appreciation.

Carolyn (Delafield, Wisconsin)
Bahá'í Perspectives on Agriculture and Food, 2023

Taking this course has been an enjoyable, rewarding and enriching experience. I now feel more confident in my abilities to contribute to the public discourse in a wide range of subjects and using different styles.

Andrew Scott, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Sustainable Devlopment and Human Prosperity, 2022

The format of this course was really nicely laid out. Zoom calls to share art and thoughts (which was more intimate) and the online forums which was more classroom like. Without either component of the course, there would have been something lacking.

Anonymous First-Timer
Anonymous comment from Student Satisfaction Survey, Jan. 2021
Fees & Tuition Support
Fees & Tuition Support

​The fee is typically $75 for a 6-9 week course. The fee for shorter courses is $50 or less. Senior citizens, Bahá’í pioneers, and full-time students are eligible for a 20% discount. In 2020, first-time Wilmette Institute students will get a 30% discount.

How to Apply

Follow the steps below to register for our extension courses

Show Steps
1. Discover

Browse the courses and choose one that’s open for registration.

2. Register

Click the Register button and complete the registration form. Payment and tuition support options are detailed on the form.

3. Start the Course!

That’s it! You will immediately receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to join the course. Browse our courses now.

1. Discover

Browse the courses and choose one that’s open for registration.

2. Register

Click the Register button and complete the registration form. Payment and tuition support options are detailed on the form.

3. Start the Course!

That’s it! You will immediately receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to join the course. Browse our courses now.

Tuition Support

To apply for an interest-free installment payment plan, or for a needs based scholarship
complete this simple online application.

Learn Individually or as a Group
Learn Individually or as a Group

Study Groups are a great way to enrich your learning experience and also save you some money. A group can be as small as two people, or as large as ten.

FAQs

How long are your courses?

The standard course is 7 weeks long, although some courses are shorter (3–6 weeks), and some, longer (8–12 weeks). This does not include the Grace Period (two to four weeks), which can be used to catch up or to work on your final project. Ideas for projects include a devotional program, a presentation such as a fireside talk or a public speech, a work of art including poetry and music, a PowerPoint slide presentation, a research project or paper, or a community project that uses information from your course materials.

When does a course start?

Our courses are spread throughout the year, to allow learners to take more than one or two courses annually. As of 2023, extension courses for adults will start on a Wednesday, with a 1-week introductory unit when those participants who have not yet taken our orientation course may do so. In the first week participants will also be invited to create a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) and introduce themselves to other learners taking the course. After that first unit, new course materials are posted on Wednesdays, and you will have one week to reflect on those materials and to complete any unit activities such as discussion in the unit forum.