Cambridge Festival 2026

An end to war: Creating peace in a turbulent world

Date: Saturday, 28 March, 3:30pm-5:00pm
Venue: Sidney Sussex College, William Mong Hall, Sidney Street, Cambridge, CB2 3HU

Peoples around the globe are longing for peace, yet conflict has persisted and escalated. Is it possible that we might at long last be on the brink of an enduring World Peace? What are the prerequisites for peace and how can we achieve it?
Short talks from a multidisciplinary panel, with Jenifer Varzaly, Sean Hinton, Nabil Khodadad, and Arzhia Habibi followed by discussion.

Jenifer Varzaly is Assistant Professor of Law at Durham University, Bye-Fellow in Law at Downing College, and Research Associate at the CBR, Cambridge University. She has been a consultant to the United Nations on development and founded the Law and Governance in the New Economy Society. After completing her PhD at Cambridge, she became an Academic Member of the Cambridge University Law Faculty and Director of Studies at Downing.

Sean Hinton has worked extensively in Mongolia, China, Australia and the UK, leading commercial and socio-economic development endeavours. He has over 35-years’ experience of leadership in growth and social impact. Sean served as Mongolia’s first honorary Consul-General in Australia and was for nine years on the international advisory board of the Baha’i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. He is an Executive-in-Residence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Sean is also an alumnus of Cambridge University, where he studied ethnomusicology.

Nabil L. Khodadad is an international lawyer. He holds a JD from The University of Chicago Law School and a BA in Economics from Northwestern University. Nabil works for an international law firm in London, on energy and infrastructure projects. He has lectured on issues relating to non-partisan social action, global governance and world peace.

Arzhia Habibi’s research focuses on Global Citizenship Education. She holds a DPhil in Education from the University of Oxford and is multi-faith Chapel Director and post-doctoral researcher at Somerville College, Oxford. She brings her commitment to working with diverse communities and young people to curate spaces of belonging, justice, and spirituality.

Organised by the Cambridge University Bahá’í Society.

Registration page: https://www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/end-war-creating-peace-turbulent-world

Talks for Cambridge Festival 2022

Philosopher, Mystic, Social Reformer, Promulgator of Peace: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844–1921) in Biography and Three Short Stories

“About the greatness of this man and his power no one who met him could entertain a doubt”, Professor E.G. Browne, Cambridge, 1890.

The speaker, Sean Hinton studied ethnomusicology at Cambridge University, served as Mongolia’s first honorary Consul-General in Australia, and is CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund. He is joined by story tellers Tebogo Khutsoane, Sarah Percival and Ismael Velasco.

Online event, 8 – 9pm, Sunday 3rd April 2022
Registration link: https://www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/philosopher-mystic-social-reformer-promulgator-peace-abdul-baha-1844-1921-biography-and-three

Update: To view the recording of this talk, visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/bbN7gEXgBIs

Climate Change, Global Pollution, Biodiversity: Can we Turn the Corner?

To overcome our environmental crises, we need to rethink our human purpose, our economy and our systems of governance, with young people in the lead.

Dr Arthur Dahl studied at Stanford University and worked as a senior official of UNEP. He was involved in drafting Agenda21 for the Rio Earth Summit and coordinated UN Earthwatch. He is president of the Baha’i-inspired International Environment Forum.

Online event, 8 – 9pm, Thursday, 7th April 2022
Registration link: https://www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/climate-change-global-pollution-biodiversity-can-we-turn-corner

Update: To view the recording of this talk, visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/cDUsE-yw9Wg

Series of Talks for the Centenary

To commemorate the centenary of the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Cambridge University Bahá’í Society has arranged online talks by eight international speakers. Each speaker will focus on one theme based on the teachings and life of this unique individual and its relevance to our world today.

Visit this page for further details of all the talks and registration links on Eventbrite.

Festival of Ideas 2019

The Cambridge University Bahá’í society has organised two events this year as part of the University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas. Both events will take place on Saturday, 19 October 2019.

Educating for sustainable peace in a turbulent world

Saturday 19 October: 6:00pm – 7:00pm

University Centre, Granta Place Mill Lane, CB2 1RU

In a world increasingly destabilised by socio-political, economic and environmental conflict, is there hope for sustainable peace? A talk by Dr Sara Clarke-Habibi.

Dr Sara Clarke-Habibi has worked on peacebuilding in conflict-affected countries including Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Mexico and Cyprus. Drawing on education research, Dr Clarke-Habibi discusses how our understanding of the prerequisites of sustainable peace have changed over the last half-century in response to two global processes and links these insights to a Baha’i perspective on the future of the world.

Sara Clarke-Habibi researches on education in contexts of armed conflict, forced migration and mass violence. Sara holds a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge (UK), an MA in Conflict Resolution from Landegg International University (Switzerland), and a BA in Ethics, Society and Law from the University of Toronto (Canada). She teaches on the intersection of education with issues of armed conflict, genocide, transitional justice, peacebuilding, social healing and reconciliation.

Organised by the Cambridge University Bahá’í Society for the University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

Booking website for tickets (free entry, open to all): https://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events/educating-sustainable-peace-turbulent-world

Change on the global stage: what makes an ‘International community’?

Saturday 19 October: 8:00pm – 9:00pm

University Centre, Granta Place Mill Lane, CB2 1RU

Global challenges call us to unprecedented new levels of international cooperation. Will we rise to the occasion?

Maja Groff is an international lawyer based in The Hague. She is a graduate of Harvard, Oxford and McGill Universities, and was a winner of the prestigious 2018 New Shape Prize for proposing global solutions to humanity’s problems.
https://globalchallenges.org/our-work/the-new-shape-prize/awardees

Organised by the Cambridge University Bahá’í Society for the University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

Booking website for tickets (free entry, open to all): https://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events/educating-sustainable-peace-turbulent-world