``To Light a Candle``
The PLU Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Department, along with several other departments, are sponsoring the documentary “To Light a Candle” on Thursday April 9, 2015 from 6-8 p.m. in the PLU Regency Room.
Watch the Trailer
This film is “a powerful documentary about Baha’is in Iran” and “highlights the religious minority’s determination to pursue further education despite the Islamic Republic’s sustained campaign of oppression against them.” The film runs about an hour and will be followed by a panel of three speakers: Shiva Sabet, an Iranian Baha’i PLU MFT graduate; Naghmeh Shadabi, a current Iranian Baha’i PLU MFT student; and Dr. Chris Gilbert, a former BIHE professor to Baha’i students in Iran.
This event is free and open to PLU students, alumni and the community.
Panelists
Shiva Sabet
Shiva is an alumna of BIHE. She received her Master of Art in the Marriage and Family Therapy from Pacific Lutheran University. Having been deprived of basic human rights in Iran, like many other Baha’i, motivated her strongly to pursue higher education and personal growth. Her prior education and life experience have been focused on promoting and facilitating education for children and youth. Currently Shiva advocates for Alzheimer’s Association and is working as a Geriatric Clinical Specialist in Seattle. She is a recipient of Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s annual award for the 2013-2014 academic year and also PLU’s Advocate Award for Dedication to Justice and Fairness.
Naghmeh Shadabi
Naghmeh is an alumna of BIHE. She attended high school but could not accompany her friends into college because she is a Baha’i, and entered BIHE in 2007. She received a decent education in psychology despite all the difficulties and risk factors, and graduated in 2011. During this period, BIHE was attacked several time by Iranian official. She was doing her last semester in 2011 which the members of psychology department at BIHE were arrested. Despite all the limitation in Iran, she tried to serve junior youth and youth in Iran for their education. Also she served 2 years as a Teacher Assistance at BIHE.In September 2014, she moved to the United States in order to pursue her education and started Master of Marriage and Family at Pacific Lutheran University.
Christopher Gilbert, Ph.D.
Dr. Gilbert has over 25 years experience as an international, organizational development and leadership consultant for a host of companies in the U.S., E.U., Africa and Asia. His firm NobleEdge (www.NobleEdgeconsulting.com), recently completed work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a ground breaking, sustainable food security program in four nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Gilbert has served as Provost at Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Seattle, faculty at the University of Washington and Tacoma Community College and adjunct for universities in China, Switzerland, Africa and the Russian Republic. He is also affiliated global faculty (AGF) for the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) in Iran, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Science, Engineering, Humanities, Social Science and Business and Management. The AGF, composed of hundreds of accredited professors from universities outside of Iran, creates and supports distance learning designed to overcome unrelenting religious persecution of Baha’i’s and the systematic denial of their access to higher education.