Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

The Forum in person & on Zoom 

9:00 am Sunday,  April 7, 2024

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Bahá’ís’ Struggle for Gender Equality, Justice, and Religious Freedom in Iran

Daniel Lord, Nava Sarracino

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Daniel Lord earned his undergraduate degree at UC Santa Cruz, during which time he also studied acting at UC Berkeley.  He holds master’s degrees in education and psychology and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Michigan.  After working as a licensed mental health professional, he pursued studies in the law and human rights at the University of Iowa, and while there he participated in the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.  He retired as a psychology professor at University of Alaska but continues to be an affiliated global faculty member with the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education in Iran.  Close to a second retirement, he currently works as an attorney-public advocate in Anchorage and is a member of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section.

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Nava Sarracino was born to American and Iranian Bahá’í parents. She grew up in South Africa, where she earned her Master's in Sustainable Development. She moved to Anchorage 15 years ago and has worked in a birth center, and as a medical biller. But she sees her calling in life as a theatre practitioner and story-teller, and believes deeply in the power of the arts to be a great educational tool.  While working as a project manager in rural Alaska, she brought theatre and story-telling into the local school, and she has performed in communities throughout the world. Her latest story-telling event was at the Halifax Fringe Festival in Canada and most recent stage performance in Anchorage was in RKP’s production, “Lifespan of a Fact.” In her latest theatre project she hopes to bring awareness to the plight of the Bahá'ís in Iran by sharing the story of 14 individuals who were killed in Iran 40 years ago for their faith.

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