January 18. On this date in 2001, the Bahá’í World News Service carried an article titled Baha'i Chair at Hebrew University hosts conference on modern religions noting the conference was "co-sponsored by the Chair in Baha'i Studies at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Humanities and Landegg Academy."
Baha'i Chair at Hebrew University hosts conference on modern religions
Baha'i Chair at Hebrew University hosts conference on modern religions
JERUSALEM — Some 54 scholars of religion -- Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Mormon and Baha'i-- gathered in December at the Hebrew University to discuss the impact of modernism on their traditions. The conference, co-sponsored by the Chair in Baha'i Studies at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Humanities and Landegg Academy, has advanced Baha'i studies as an independent field of academic study and enriched the dialogue on the core values common to the monotheistic faiths.
The First International Conference on Modern Religions and Religious Movements in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Babi and Baha'i Faiths, was held from 17 to 21 December 2000 and focused on common approaches within Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith toward the philosophical, social and psychological challenges of modernity.
"Religious studies often deal with the origins or history of religions. For example we study the origins of Islam or medieval Judaism," said Yair Zakovitch, Dean of the Hebrew University's Faculty of Humanities. "But the study of religion in modern times is so relevant, so important to the lives of people. It was very significant that these scholars, despite the delicate political situation, were able to gather in Jerusalem to discuss their commonalities and appreciate their differences. People are generally suspicious, and the walls of suspicion collapsed."
The President of the Hebrew University, Menachem Magidor, described to the conference participants his vision of making the Hebrew University into a preeminent center for the study of religion, with research centers devoted to each of the monotheistic faiths. "The Chair in Baha'i Studies is the first link in this chain," he said.
Moshe Sharon, the holder of the Chair in Baha'i Studies and co-convenor of the conference, said that the field of Baha'i studies is emerging as an independent area of academic inquiry and that this was the first conference convened by a major international university for the study of the Baha'i Faith and its relationship to its sister faiths.
"Through this conference," said Dr. Sharon, "the Hebrew University has declared its interest in Baha'i studies and its recognition of the importance of this field alongside Jewish, Christian and Islamic studies."
The other co-convenor of the conference was Hossain Danesh, the Rector of Landegg Academy, a Baha'i-sponsored institution of higher education in Switzerland.
"The conference focused on fundamental issues that are common to religions, held in a city and at a time when religious conflict in political terms was considerable," Dr. Danesh said.
In his keynote address Dr. Danesh reviewed the common elements of the monotheistic religions that have made them cornerstones of civilizations, as well as some of the teachings and principles of the Baha'i Faith that address challenges unique to the modern age. He presented President Magidor with a volume of fine pen and ink drawings of Baha'i holy places in the Old City of Acre by the Persian architect and draftsman Hushang Seyhoun.
Other presentations and panel discussions were grouped around themes such as "Religion in Modern Times: Philosophical, Social and Psychological Reflections," "Mysticism and Messianism," "Eschatology and Ethics," "Tradition, Renewal and Reform," and "Religion and the Realm of Science." Most of the panelists spoke on aspects of Judaism or the Baha'i Faith, but there were also contributions on Sufism, the Wahhabi movement, modern Islam, and Mormonism.
The participants came mainly from the United States and Israel, but also from Canada, Denmark, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Prof. Degui Cai from China's Shandong University gave a presentation on the fundamental principles of the Baha'i Faith and their relevance to Chinese society.
The final panel discussion, on "Contemporary Meeting of Ultimate Differences," featured presentations about African Christians in Israel and about the Baha'i Faith, Christianity and indigenous religions in the Pacific islands. The panel closed with a presentation by Dr. Amnon Netzer of the Hebrew University on "The Jews and the Baha'i Faith." A Jew of Iranian background, Prof. Netzer spoke about the conditions that led as many as ten percent of Iran's Jews to convert to the Baha'i Faith.
"The courteous talk, in which Dr. Netzer showed great respect for those who converted, created an atmosphere of interfaith reconciliation for the audience, which included several Israeli Jews with Baha'i relatives," said Robert Stockman, Coordinator of the Institute for Baha'i Studies in Wilmette, Illinois.
Another significant element of the conference was the participation of many young scholars alongside well-known and outstanding professors and scholars in the field of religious studies.
"The juxtaposition of youth and experience was very insightful and promising for the future of religious studies. It demonstrated that there are fine minds coming up, and this augurs well for the emergence of new insights into the role of religion in the development of civilization," said Dr. Danesh said.
The conference also featured a number of cultural activities. The opening day closed with a program of classical music by the King David String Ensemble, one of the foremost chamber music groups in Israel. Among the selections they performed was a piece well known to Baha'is, "Dastam Bigir Abdu'l-Baha," which the composer had arranged especially for the occasion.
Kiu Haghighi, a Persian Baha'i and master of the santour, closed the conference with a virtuoso performance of an original piece he composed for the event.
On the final day of the conference, 21 December, the participants made a special trip to the Baha'i World Center in Haifa and Acre. They visited the Shrine of the Bab and toured the nearly completed garden terraces stretching above and below the Shrine on the slopes of Mount Carmel. After a luncheon at the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, they visited the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i holy places in Acre.
A compilation of articles based on the proceedings of the conference will be published during the coming year, and many of the papers will be made available through the Landegg Academy Web site, www.landegg.org.
The Hebrew University and Landegg Academy have agreed to sponsor annual conferences of this nature, with the venue alternating between Jerusalem and the Landegg campus in Wienacht, Switzerland. The overarching theme of this series of conferences will be "Religion and Science." The next conference is planned for late January 2002 at Landegg.
The Chair in Baha'i Studies at the Hebrew University was established in 1999 as the first academic chair in the world devoted to the study of the Baha'i Faith. Other academic centers and programs, most notably the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management, have been established to study Baha'i perspectives on and contributions to other academic disciplines.
"The systematic study of Baha'i religion, history and literature was introduced into the Hebrew University in the 1990s," wrote Prof. Sharon in the published proceedings of the dedication ceremonies for the Baha'i Chair, held at Mount Scopus and at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa in June 1999.
"The magnitude of the material involved, and the vast scope of research which has already been done in the field persuaded the University of the necessity of creating a proper framework for research and teaching designed to accommodate the future development of the field within the academic vision of the University of forming a cluster of research centers dedicated to the study of the major religions of the world."
The Rector of Landegg International University was Hossain Danesh, who previously served as the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada from 1985 to 1989. In 1994, due to allegations of sexual assault, Hossain Danesh resigned from his post associate professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of Ottawa and agreed not to practice medicine in the province of Ontario. As Rector, Hossain Danesh participated in a number for conferences.
For example, in December 2000, Moshe Sharon and Hossain Daneshco-convened the First International Conference on Modern Religions and Religious Movements in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Babi and Baha'i Faiths at Hebrew University. The conference was covered in a Bahá'í World News Service article.
Moshe Sharon was born in Haifa in 1937. He joined the faculty of Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1965 and would go on to earn a Ph.D. at the same institution in 1971. He served as an Arab Affairs adviser to Prime Minister Menachem Begin and served in the Ministry of Defense, during which took part in the negotiations for peace with Egypt. Sharon established the Centre of Jewish Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, which he directed while serving as director of the World Zionist Organization branch in Johannesburg. In 1999 he was appointed to the chair of Bahá'í Studies at Hebrew University. Sharon serves as a policy expert for the Ariel Center for Policy Research. He and his wife, Judy, have six children.
Moshe Sharon has written about early Islamic history and the development of Shia Islam. He is a specialist in Arabic epigraphy and papyrology, with his opus being Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae. In 2005 he published the first translation into Hebrew of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and included a study of the history and theology of the religion.
Frequently interviewed by Israeli media, he has been called "Israel's greatest Middle East scholar." Among his political views is that there is "no possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians whatsoever, for ever" and that peace agreements with Arabs are "pieces of paper, parts of tactics, strategies...with no meaning."Moshe Sharon opposed the Oslo peace accords and believes the dismantling the Israeli settlements, which he terms "expulsions," serve to "increase the appetite of the other side and only achieve the killing of Jews." He blames the Bosnians' being Muslim for the Yugoslav conflict of the 1990's and argues that "The only way to avoid military confrontation with Iran is to leave this military confrontation to powers bigger than Israel."
In the Israeli documentary film "Bahais in My Backyard," during an interview, Moshe Sharon denies the existence of Bahá'u'lláh's descendants in Israel. Despite Sharon's denial of the existence of such relatives, they do exist, and one of Bahá'u'lláh's great-granddaughters, Nigar Bahai Amsalem, is featured in the film. The denial of these descendants, no less by a purported academic who is "Chair of Bahá'í Studies" at arguably Israel's best university, is curious.
On October 14, 2001, the Bahá’í World News Service carried an article titled In Switzerland, Landegg International University passes an important milestone, winning a new level of recognition from the Government.
14 October 2001
WIENACHT, Switzerland — Although an African herself, Njeri Mwagiru was turned off by brochures from top universities in the United States and Canada that touted special clubs for Africans, Indians and other major ethnic and racial groups.
"There just seemed to be a lot of separation on those campuses," said the 20-year-old Kenya native, discussing her decision to come instead to Landegg International University, a Baha'i-inspired institution of higher learning in the foothills of the Swiss Alps. "It seemed to me that things were designed so that people of different cultures could stay apart."
"But here at Landegg, the emphasis is on having people of different cultures get together -- and that is what I was looking for."
Entering her third year in Landegg's Bachelor of Arts program, Ms. Mwagiru is happy with her choice -- a choice made somewhat venturesome by the fact that Landegg's degree programs are only five years old.
But she has indeed found the kind of unity amidst diversity that she was seeking, and Ms. Mwagiru also believes she is receiving a topflight education, one with a distinctive approach.
"It aims to combine various disciplines of study so that they make more sense and the education is more applicable to life," said Ms. Mwagiru, enrolled in a program that brings together the fields of psychology, human development and education.
"And it has delivered everything in terms of the education I expected," she continued. "We have lots of contact with the professors and many in-depth discussions. The school has a general belief in the uniqueness of the individual -- and at the same time the unity of all."
Ms. Mwagiru's description of her experience at Landegg quite accurately matches the university's stated goals, which are to develop and practice a new "integrative" approach to education that combines modern scientific thinking with spiritual and ethical values in a way that meets the needs of an interdependent and global civilization.
"Our curriculum seeks to make sure that the students not only receive the latest academic and scientific information about what they are studying, but that they will also be exposed to the various ethical considerations that pertain to it -- and that they will then learn how to apply it in the real world," said Hossain Danesh, president of Landegg.
On 20 September 2001, Landegg received an important new level of recognition for its approach, when it was formally registered by the cantonal and federal authorities as a private university in Switzerland. To achieve that, the university had to meet the rigorous criteria set by the government at both the canton and federal levels.
"One of the most significant implications of Landegg's new status is that the Swiss Government has recognized the legitimacy of an approach to education that is global in reach and that has as its basis the idea of applied spirituality within a framework of integrated studies," said Michael Penn, who served as vice rector at Landegg from 1998-2000 and is currently an affiliate professor.
"It is a recognition of the idea that an institution of higher learning can, in an academically rigorous way, apply principles of ethics to the interrogation of social problems in the world," said Dr. Penn, who is professor of psychology at Franklin and Marshall University in Pennsylvania, USA.
Landegg is also winning recognition in other important ways. A high percentage of its graduate students have gone on to prestigious doctoral programs at universities like Stanford and Cambridge. And it has launched a major peace education project in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is winning high praise from government officials.
A Gradual Evolution
Landegg's evolution into a full-fledged university has been a gradual process. Located on some 31 acres on a hillside overlooking Lake Constance in the rustic Swiss village of Wienacht, Landegg International University was previously known as Landegg Academy, and it was used primarily as a conference center.
In that role, Landegg was the venue of a number of significant meetings, including a series of "International Dialogues on the Transition to a Global Society." The first such Dialogue was held in September 1990 and included the participation of Federico Mayor, then UNESCO's Director- General; Karan Singh, a leading Indian author and diplomat; and Bertrand Schneider, then secretary-general of the Club of Rome.
In addition to such high-level gatherings, Landegg was also host to a number of international programs, focusing on peace and world order studies for young people.
Currently comprising some nine buildings, the campus was originally built as a holiday retreat in the 19th century. The campus was acquired by a Baha'i family in 1982 and the properties were donated to a newly established Landegg International Baha'i Foundation, operating under the aegis of the Baha'i community of Switzerland, which undertook the renovation of its main buildings and established it as a conference center.
In the mid-1990s, the Foundation decided that Landegg's role as a center of learning should become formalized, and Landegg's functions were transferred to an independent board, whose charter states that the university will be operated as an independent university, directed by an international governing board. Among the most important responsibilities of the board is to ensure the academic excellence and independence of the university.
In September 1997, Landegg formally inaugurated a new program of graduate studies, offering a Master of Arts Degree in eight areas, including conflict resolution, psychology, education, and religion. In 1998, Landegg began to offer undergraduate degrees as well and by 2000, the school began seeking formal recognition as a university.
Over the years, Landegg has opened active scholarly exchange programs with a number of universities worldwide, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Beijing University in China, the State University of Sergipe in Brazil, and the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, in the USA.
Currently, Landegg offers undergraduate degrees in four areas: economics and international development; political science and international relations; psychology, human development and education; and the integrative study of religion. Students may also design their own area of concentration, with the guidance of the academic office, from among courses offered.
Graduate degrees are offered in six areas: consultation and conflict resolution, moral education, applied ethics, the integrative study of religion, leadership and management, and spiritual psychology. A certificate program in Information Technology has also been launched this year.
The way in which areas of degree concentration combine fields of study across various disciplines gives but a glimpse of how the school seeks to provide an integrative approach.
The cornerstone of that integrative approach, Dr. Daneshexplained, is to first study all of the relevant theories and models that currently exist in a given field. Professors and students themselves are then encouraged to create a new model, based on the new insights into human nature and those universal ethical and spiritual principles that are present in the spiritual and philosophical heritage of humanity, and to see if such a model can have a practical application.
"For example, if we are studying conflict resolution, we first study all of the different theories and models of conflict resolution," said Dr. Danesh. "And we keep them. But we have also developed our own model, which we call 'conflict-free conflict resolution.'" [CFCR]
The new CFCR model, Dr. Danesh said, does not accept that conflict or aggression is necessarily an inevitable feature of human nature. "Rather, our new theory suggests that conflict is a reflection of the different stages in human development and evolution and that it reflects the absence of unity," said Dr. Danesh, whose own work in psychology and spirituality has helped to lay the foundations for the new model.
Dr. Danesh said the theory of conflict-free conflict resolution indicates that the best way to overcome conflict is by seeking higher and higher levels of unity.
Based on the CFCR model, Landegg has developed a subsidiary program, called "Education for Peace," which seeks to help war-torn communities incorporate peace education into the standard public school curriculum. Currently, Education for Peace (EFP)operates a pilot project in six schools in three different communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, reaching some 6,000 students.
Global Campus
Although the Landegg campus is relatively small, with a current capacity of approximately 100 full-time, on-campus students, its reach is global. At any given time, only about one third of the school's students are on campus. The rest study from afar, using an array of distance-learning technologies but principally email and the World Wide Web.
The global diversity of the student body is another hallmark of the Landegg experience. For example, the 30- some young people in the undergraduate program come from 20 different countries. The graduate student population of approximately 120 students is as diverse.
"We have students from countries as diverse as Mongolia, Russia, the United States, Venezuela, Canada and China," said Graham Hassall, associate dean of undergraduate studies. "This is one of the wonderful things about Landegg, the global nature of our very small campus."
Nyambura Mwagiru, 21, Njeri's sister, said she also felt one of the best things about Landegg is the global diversity of its student body. "Just being able to sit down and talk with people from so many different places is one of the best things about Landegg," said Nyambura, who, like her sister, is in the psychology, human development and education program. "We learn from each other, and have time to reflect and grow."
Nyambura said she was on her way to King's College in London when she stopped with her sister to visit Landegg. She was so taken with the atmosphere that she stayed, even though it meant giving up on a degree from a school that is much better known around the world.
"It was a big decision but I don't believe I made the wrong decision," said Nyambura. "It is exciting to be part of something that is growing and that is so different."
The faculty of Landegg is similarly global in its diversity. Of its more than 70 professors, many who are affiliated with other colleges and universities around the world, only about 10 are on campus at a given time. Nevertheless, the ability to draw on well-respected academics from more than 20 countries contributes greatly to the internationalism of the educational process at Landegg.
The school has also had a surprising degree of success in placing its graduates. Although only about 30 students have so far received graduate degrees from Landegg, a number have gone on to prestigious graduate programs.
Jenni Menon of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, for example, has been accepted this year into a doctoral studies in psychology and education at Stanford University in the USA; Tania Sargent of Zimbabwe is currently in her second year at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA; and Mieko Bond went on to do a master's degree in criminology at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
"Landegg was instrumental in helping me get into my current PhD program," said Ms. Menon, who received an MA in Moral Education from Landegg earlier this year. She cited two key factors in Stanford's acceptance: her experience as one of the coordinators in the pilot phase of the Education for Peace project in Bosnia and, second, the "close, caring and thoughtful attention and advice" she received from her professors at Landegg.
"As a student at Landegg I feel I was simultaneously exposed to a rigorous theoretical and practical service- oriented type of learning," said Ms. Menon. "Of course, many universities promote this theoretical-practical approach to learning, but a unique aspect of Landegg is that this approach occurs through an effort to integrate the scientific and the ethical/moral and spiritual aspects of knowledge and investigation. I think that this unique integrative approach sounded appealing to Stanford, indicating to me that [they] are seeking fresh approaches."
Ms. Sargent likewise feels her experience at Landegg contributed greatly to her acceptance as a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania last year.
"It is quite a hard school to get into," said Ms. Sargent, who finished her course work at Landegg towards an MA in moral education a year ago. "And I think one reason I was accepted was some of the academic writing I had done at Landegg." She wrote a paper entitled "Cultivating the Chinese Intelligence: Costs and Benefits of Chinese Achievement Motivation," which she believes was critical in her U Penn application.
"I was still very surprised when I was accepted and given a good scholarship offer," said Ms. Sargent. "Some people used to ask me, 'Why are you going to such a new school, don't you need to get real credentials?' But getting an MA from Landegg obviously doesn't hinder you from going somewhere else."
Ms. Bond likewise found that some of her friends questioned her decision to go to Landegg to get a master's degree in conflict resolution in 1996. "They would say, 'Will it be recognized by an established university? Will it look good on your CV?,'" said Ms. Bond, who is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Manchester. "But I thought it would be an exciting place to study. And in the end, I did end up at Cambridge. So now my friends have changed their minds."
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