Jeune Street

Purpose and aims of the ABS-UK Blog
The Association for Baha'i Studies (ABS-UK) is excited to announce the upcoming launch an ABS-UK Blog. The purpose of the blog is to foster intellectual activity among UK Baha'is by providing a forum for new ideas and research to be published in short form.

It aims to respond to the call of the Universal House of Justice for Baha'i scholarship "to enrich the intellectual life of the Baha'i community, to explore new insights into the Baha'i teachings and their relevance to the needs of society, and to attract the investigation of the Faith by thoughtful people from all backgrounds." (Letter to an NSA, 28 April 2008)

Launch schedule
We aim to launch the blog early in the Baha'i New Year (166 BE/April 2009). To enable a smooth launch, we are looking to compile a bank of submissions that can supply the initial two or three posts per week. Through these initial submissions we also plan to identify authors that can be regular contributors to the blog.

How to be a contributor
We are looking for people to make periodic contributions to the blog. There are no strict criteria for an author to qualify to write for the blog and diverse voices and interests will be valued. You don't have to post with any particular frequency, but your posts must be approved to appear. Posts should be relatively brief (approx. 200-1000 words) and fit within the parameters of Baha'i studies (see below).

To contribute to the ABS-UK blog, please send a short essay to the editors (wendi[at]northill.demon.co.uk and geoffrey.cameron[at]sant.oxon.org). Not all posts that are submitted will be published, however, if they are not suitable for the blog for one reason or another. Submissions will also be posted at intervals to space out content, so when they are approved they may not appear right away.

Blog themes and content
Posts should be intellectually serious and aim to contribute to the discourses of society. They need not be strictly 'academic', in the sense that footnotes will not be necessary and articles should be targeted for non-specialists. To suit the blog format, a good post will be short, direct, have a clear thesis. A post may also involve artistic expression, in which case it would not need to meet the criteria above.

Submissions should fall into the following categories:

• Correlating the Baha'i teachings to contemporary issues or debates (eg. governance, human rights, education, psychology)


• Comparative religion and religious studies


• Baha'i apologetics and defense of the Baha'i Faith


• Social and historical studies of the Baha'i community


• Book reviews (the editors can be emailed for book suggestions)


• Artistic expression (poetry, photography, etc)


• Commentary on social action

Style
All posts must adopt a respectful tone that reflects the standards of discourse laid out in the Baha'i writings. The Universal House of Justice has written the following:
It is useful to bear in mind that the Internet is a reflection of the world around us, and we find in its infinitude of pages the same competing forces of integration and disintegration that characterize the tumult in which humanity is caught up.  In their use of the Internet, Baha'is should stand aloof from the negative forces operating within it, availing themselves of its potential to spread the Word of God and to inspire and uplift others, while ignoring any negative reactions their efforts may from time to time elicit. (From a letter dated 9 April 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual)

In other respects, the ABS-UK blog will aim to reflect the lively, engaging and serious style of the best scholarly blogs. These include the following:

• The Immanent Frame


• Overcoming Bias


• Brainstorm: Lives of the Mind


• Crooked Timber

Design and Technical Assistance
The ABS-UK would warmly welcome offers of service from anyone who has graphic design or technical expertise to assist with designing the blog layout and troubleshooting technical issues as they arise.