A reminder that the AVI Conference (Asha Vahishta Conference) continues this Saturday May 26!!!!
The program for the day is listed below, running from 8am-8pm.
Audience members may stay for the entire day, or particular sessions, however, please do RSVP this information to
Ervard Nozer Kotwal at nskotwal1@gmail.com
For further information regarding the AVI (seminar synopses, Full Conference Brochure, Conference Panelist Biographies, the AVI Vision Document “The 101 Inspirations”) – please visit the OZCF website at: https://ozcf.wildapricot.org/
Programme (May 26)
Conceptual Re-imagining of Faith to Re-claim Fellowship
Main Theme: Faith requires constant re-imagining for Fellowship to be vibrant and dynamic (An Operational Perspective). The opening address will explain how the AVI re-imagines faith/fellowship as an authentic expression of Zoroastrianism in diaspora. Subsequent sessions reflect on the various elements of re-imagining involved, their necessity, and their promotion of fellowship.
Session 1 (8:00am-9:00am): Panaino
The Foundations for Intercultural Cosmopolitanism: Daena Mazdayasni an Anti-Paradigm and Counter-Narrative to Hegemony.
(Recognizing that the virtue and unique history of the Daena, was its ability to resist a mummification of attitudes, at the hand of religious adjudicators).
Session 2 (9:30am-10:30am): Niyozov
Re-Imagining and Re-Claiming: Tajiks and Central Asians.
(How do populations identify and maintain a sense of belonging, despite remote history, and fractured sociocultural connections).
Session 3 (11:00am-12:00pm): Samuel
Insights for an Anti-Oppression Methodology Guiding Religion: Dalit, Christian-Dalit, and Comparative Theologies.
(What is the relevance and importance for theology in a ‘secular’ context? Must theology be comparative for it to truly aspire to liberation?)
Session 4 (12:30pm-1:30pm): Dhondy
Identity & Belonging: Constructing Histories & Choosing Narratives for a Decolonization of Mind and Spirit.
(Writing the history you want to live. Defining oneself, one’s faith, and one’s actions, through conscious selection.)
Session 5 (2:00pm-3:00pm): Rahmanian
Bringing Simorgh to Life (the SHE of the Creator)! Re-Imagining, as Authentic, Intimate and Subversive Emotional Wisdom.
(Art is important to maintain an active connection to Faith. Creative representation communicates ethos. Faith-messaging education).
Session 6 (3:30pm-4:30pm): Schwartz
A History of God(s) in Zoroastrianism.
(Do terms like "monotheism"/"dualism" apply to the Gathas? An overview of historical Zoroastrian worship and belief provides context).
Session 7 (5:00pm-6:00pm): Lightsey
Faith for All, Fellowship for All: Womanist Theology, Black Liberation Theology, Queer Theology.
(M.K. Gandhi and M.L King Jr., both noted that sociopolitical systems must be judged and measured by their treatment of the marginalized).
Session 8 (6:30pm-7:30pm): O’laoire
By Addition not Subtraction, Old Wisdom for a New Age: How the Celts and Christianity were enriched by the Tuatha Dé Danann
(A case study in the assimilation and metamorphosis of Irish spirituality, constantly reaffirming a wisdom of interdependence and a worship of reciprocity Daena).
