PRESENTER: SHANE TEDJARATI: May 17, 2020

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• Humanity is facing one of the greatest global challenges in recent memory – the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19.  The phenomenon has enveloped virtually every part of the planet and has left no one unaffected.  In an unintended fashion, it has united humanity to pause, ponder and reflect on our common destiny on this planet and our assumptions and institutions built under the current world order.
  More than 100 years ago, Baha’u’llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha’i Faith, observing the plight of humanity said: “The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.”  His vision for humanity, however, is a positive one in which he sees the present world order will need to be “rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.”
  The present crisis give new impetus to these remarkable words.  What are the parameters and dimensions of the new world order?  What framework and principles should guide the rebuilding of our society and our institutions guided by the concept of Oneness of Mankind?
  Join us for a fireside chat facilitated by Shane Tedjarati.

Presentation by the Brazilian author (in Portuguese), "The Collective Suffering: A chance for World Unity"

(Luis Henrique Beust: a Bahá'í's view of the pandemic)

• Pandemics don't just kill. They change the course of consciousness and history. The advancement of humanity as a general rule, does not occur in times of ease and well-being. This is true both for individuals and for the collective life of peoples. So, how can we move forward in times of distress and elevate our human condition?

In each new millennium, humanity passes through a new civilizing leap, and Architecture is one of the signs in which this transformation becomes evident. What were the factors that influenced the evolution of construction models? How did the new Divine Revelation inspire architects on 5 continents to design temples that reflect the unity of Religions as well as a new form of communion with God?

Presentation by the Brazilian Architect Amir Shafa