ISGP Seminar

GCE requires students to complete at least 50 hours of extra-curricular work in order to graduate. To complete my hours I decided to embark myself in a series of activities such as Seminars, volunteering jobs, workshops, etc. This is a small retailing of a 10-day seminar I participated in called Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP) in December of 2017.

ISGP is an Institute that offers a 4-year seminar, which seeks to raise the youth's capacity to participate in the prevailing discourses of society. The program deeply introduces the participant to the different efforts done by the Baha'i community to contribute to the progress of society, and explores some of the concepts and fundamental principles that sustain the Baha'i community's work, to finally reflect about the different ways the participant can raise his capacity to contribute, in ever greater levels of sophistication and efficiency, to the progress of civilization.

This was my first year participating in ISGP, and Year 1 has the following table of contents:

Main areas of activity: This section refers to the different efforts conducted by the Baha'i community in favor to the advance of civilization in all its multiple dimensions, categorized into three main categories: expansion and consolidation, social action, and the participation in the discourses of society. These dimensions construct a conceptual framework within which youth can seek their spiritual and intellectual growth, and to contribute to the advance of civilization with higher levels of sophistication and effectiveness.

Basis concepts: This section introduces a series of concepts such as "attraction to beauty", "the investigation of truth", and "service" that are useful to consider when participating in a "discourse of social action", or the general flow of such conversations.

Harmony between science and religion: This section is about the relationship between science and religion, and their interface with development. Participants here create the ability to craft and  promote a discourse on science, religion, and development.

Culture and communication: This section is about how communication gives form to common understanding, creating and recreating culture, and how these two notions of communication and culture are crucial for the process of construction of communities.

Conversations: This final section enforces participants with the ability to engage and elevate the state of a conversation.

More than 80 youth from across the country participated in the seminar, and it was an amazing experience to learn and consult about such deep topics with people my age. These ten days gave a perfect ambiance for the construction and strengthening of friendships, and I keep contact with many of my fellow participants to this day, participating together in different activities that serve communities.