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History

The Furútan Academy was originally created in response to requests from Bahá’í communities in the Greater Vancouver area for youth classes on Bahá’í history and its major Writings. Its name was chosen to honour the memory of the Hand of the Cause of God, Mr. 'Alí Akbar Furután, a prominent believer who devoted much of his life to the creation and development of formalized Bahá’í education in Iran.

After two successful years of youth classes in Vancouver, a group of professional Bahá’í educators from across Canada was invited to help broaden the course materials and the geographical reach of the Academy. Courses are now available in the Lower Mainland of B.C. and in Ottawa, Ontario. And access is no longer limited to young Bahá’ís. To date, courses have been delivered on The Dawn-Breakers, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, and Some Answered Questions. Three others are planned for the current year.

Mission Statement

The goal of the Furútan Academy is to develop, implement and foster systematized college-level training courses on the essential Bahá’í fundamentals with a special focus on the Faith’s history and sacred texts.

Description of Overall Program

The Furutan Academy was established by a group of professional Bahá’í teachers and educators. Its name was chosen to commemorate the stellar services of the Hand of the Cause, Mr. Ali Akbar Furútan – in particular his life-long dedication to Bahá’í education in his native Iran.

The Furútan Academy seeks to provide systematic, high-quality, college-level courses on the writings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. In order to achieve this objective, the Academy’s courses differ from traditional Bahá’í deepenings in several ways.
  1. The curriculum has been, and will be, developed by professional educators.
  2. Considerable supplemental material is provided.
  3. The courses are delivered by trained teachers.
  4. Evaluations – in the form of papers, quizzes, and exams as deemed appropriate – are used to ensure understanding.
Classes are held in academic environments such as colleges or universities. Such settings enhance the seriousness of the subject matter while, at the same time, raising the public profile of the Bahá’í Faith. As the long-range plan is to develop the Academy into a degree-granting educational facility, credit towards future degrees is given for each successfully-completed course.

The content is at the undergraduate post-secondary institution level, and is evaluated via essays and shorter papers as well as by written examinations. For those not working towards accreditation, it is possible to audit the classes. Prerequisites will be established for higher-level classes.

Last modified: Monday, 29 August 2005, 12:38 PM

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