At 12:36 PM +0000 10/6/07, David Friedman wrote:
>Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Baha'is (who asked his
>advice, and in general also) to study history, economics, sociology,
>etc., in order to be au courant with all the progressive movements
>and thoughts being put forth today, and so that they could correlate
>these to the Baha'i teachings. What he wants the Baha'is to do is to
>study more, not to study less. The more general knowledge,
>scientific and otherwise, they possess, the better.
>
>
>I possess quite impressive general knowledge as I have been
>preparing to go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? for four years. I
>placed in the top quarter in the world quizzing championships this
>year. According to this letter I should therefore have a special
>advantage in teaching the Faith. I'm not sure how to apply my
>knowledge. I'm not sure what those progressive movements are and
>why relating them to the Baha'i teachings should be of much value.
>Are we supposed to always correlate the Baha'i teachings to these
>movements, or only if the seeker requires it? I don't currently see
>myself as better equipped to teach so any advice would be
>appreciated.
I would suggest looking at the requirements for a degree in general
studies. This will give you an idea of the background I think he is
talking about. At one time, such degrees were looked down upon, but
no longer. You can also narrow the focus by taking departmental
degrees (BA in Social Sciences, Humanities, etc, B.S. in General
Science), an individualized major or interdisciplinary degree of some
type such as Middle Eastern Studies. You can even continue this into
a Master's program and some of each are available largely on-line.
The key for Baha'is, I believe, is not to study more and more about
less and less until you know everything about nothing.
Here is one overview of such a course -
Bachelor of General Studies (B.G.S.) - 120 total credit hours
* 69 credit hours in arts and sciences
o 12 credit hours in Arts and Humanities
o 12 credit hours in Sciences and Mathematics
o 12 credit hours in Social and Behavioral Sciences
* 18 additional credit hours in one of the three above areas
* 15 credit hours in arts and sciences electives
* 51 credit hours in electives
* a minimum of 30 upper-level (300-400 level) credit hours
* not more than 21 credit hours in a single arts and sciences
department/subject or 30 credit hours in a single professional school
* a minimum of 30 hours of residential credit (IU or Purdue) earned at IPFW
* a minimum of 20 credit hours earned after admission to the
General Studies Degree Program
* competency courses (IPFW required) in
o English Composition--ENG W131 or equivalent
o Communications--COM 114 or equivalent
o Mathematics--MA 153, MA 168 or Statistics 125 or equivalent
o Computer Science--CS 106 or equivalent
o 2nd Writing Course--see your advisor for a listing of applicable courses
From what I have heard, to make this most desirable for employment
purposes, a capstone course tying a bunch of this together is
advisable along with above average communication skills.
Don C
--
Understood properly, all man's problems are essentially spiritual in nature.
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