Robert Stockman (born October 6, 1953) is a scholar specializing in
Baháʼí studies
The scholarly study of the Baháʼí Faith, its teachings, history and literature is currently conducted in a variety of venues, including institutes of the Baháʼí administration as well as non-affiliated universities. Some scholars study so ...
who has been called "the foremost historian of the
Baháʼí Faith in America."
He received his undergraduate degree from
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
(B.A., 1975) and a doctorate in religious studies from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
(Th.D., 1990).
Background
Robert Stockman was raised in
Granby, Connecticut
Granby is a town in far northern Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,903 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined as a census-designated place known as Salmon Brook. Other areas in town include North Granby a ...
by Harold Herman and Margery (Fothergill) Stockman, who worked as apple farmers. He initially majored in geology at Wesleyan University and later received a master's degree in planetary science from
Brown University, with a particular interest in the geology of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
. He was introduced to the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
while an undergraduate student and converted at the age of twenty, on October 16, 1973.
He has been an active Baháʼí since his conversion, and in 1979 participated in mass teachings in rural central Florida.
During his studies for his master's degree in geology, he developed an interest in the history of the Baháʼí community in Rhode Island which led to his researching the biography of
Thornton Chase. This endeavor led to the publication of ''Baha'i Faith in America: Origins 1892–1900'', followed by ''Baha'i Faith in America, The: Early Expansion, 1900–1912 Volume 2'' before the ultimate publishing of ''Thornton Chase: First American Baha'i.'' Starting in 1989, he has worked for the
National Spiritual Assembly
Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...
of the United States, based in
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
, in various capacities. He is married to Mana Derakhshani.
Career
Subsequent to earning his doctorate from
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
, Stockman began teaching at the
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...
in Chicago prior to proceeding to his current position as a lecturer at
Indiana University South Bend
Indiana University South Bend (IU South Bend) is a public university in South Bend, Indiana. It is the third largest and northernmost campus of Indiana University.
History
Indiana University began offering classes in South Bend in 1922 as an ...
, where he teaches religious studies. He serves as director of the Wilmette Institute.
Wilmette Institute: Robert Stockman
Retrieved December 26, 2016 He has served on the boards of the Baháʼí Encyclopedia project, the Association for Baháʼí studies, and ''World Order'' magazine. He has lectured on Baháʼí topics across the world and is a frequent contributor to Baháʼí panels at the American Academy of Religion.
Articles
* Review of "In Service to the Common Good: The American Baháʼí Community's Commitment to Social Change," in World Order, vol. 37, no. 3 (2006), 45-48.
* "The Baha'i Faith and Globalization, 1900–1912," in a peer-reviewed volume on globalization and the Baháʼí Faith (Aarhus, Den.: Aarhus University Press, 2005).
* "The Baháʼí Faith," in the Worldmark Encyclopedia.
* Review of Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, “Life and Death of Planet Earth,” in World Order, vol. 34, no. 3 (Spring 2003), 42-47.
* "The Baháʼí Faith and Interfaith Relations: A Brief History," in World Order, vol. 33, no. 4 (Summer 2002), 19-33.
* "Baháʼí Faith," in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ed. J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2002), 102-114
* "True, Corinne Knight," in Women Building Chicago, 1790–1990, ed. Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001), 891-93.
* "Baháʼí faith," in Encyclopedia of American Religious History, ed. Edward L. Queen II, Stephen R. Prothero, and Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr. (New York, NY: Facts on File, 2001), 53-55.
* "The Unity Principle: Ideas of Social Concord and Discord in the Baháʼí Faith," in Joseph Gittler, ed., Research in Human Social Conflict, Volume 2 (Westview, CT: JAI Press, 2000), pp. 1–19.
* Response to Juan R. I Cole, “Race, Immorality, and Money in the American Baháʼí Community: Impeaching the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly,” Religion (2000) 30, 133-39.
* "Baháʼí Faith," in James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998), 64-71.
* "Revelation, Interpretation, and Elucidation in the Baháʼí Writings", in Moojan Momen, ed., Scripture and Revelation (Oxford: George Ronald, 1998).
* The Baháʼí Faith section of The Pluralism Project (CD Rom, Columbia Univ. Press, 1997).
* "The Baháʼí Faith in England and Germany, 1900–1913", in World Order magazine, vol. 27, no. 3, (Spring 1996), 31-42.
* "The Vision of the Baháʼí Faith," in Martin Forward, Ultimate Visions: Reflections on the Religions We Choose (Oxford: One World, 1995), 266-74.
* "The Baháʼí Faith in the 1990s," article in Dr. Timothy Miller, ed., America's Alternative Religions (Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1995)
* "The Baháʼí Faith: A Portrait," in Joel Beversluis, ed., A Sourcebook for the Earth's Community of Religions, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids. MI: CoNexus Press, 1995).
* Paul Johnson's "Theosophical Influence in Baháʼí History: Some Comments", in ''Theosophical History'', vol. 5, no. 4 (October 1994): 137-43.
* "The Baháʼí Faith in America: One Hundred Years," in World Order, vol. 25, no. 3 (Spring 1994): 9-23.
* "Women in the American Baháʼí Community, 1900–1912," in World Order, vol. 25, no. 2 (Winter 1993–94): 17-34.
* "Jesus Christ in the Baháʼí Writings," in The Baháʼí Studies Review, vol. 2, no. 1 (1992): 33-41.
* Review of John S. Hatcher's "The Purpose of Physical Reality," in Encyclopedie Universelle Philosophique (Presses Universitaires de France, 1991).
* Review of Marzieh Gail's "Summon Up Remembrance", in Iranian Studies, 22.4 (1989): 118-20.
* Review of R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram's "Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár," in The Journal of Baháʼí Studies, vol. 1, no. 2 (1988–89): 71-78.
* "Passing of the First American Baháʼí," in Baháʼí News, no. 679 (Oct. 1987): 4-9.
* "The Baháʼí Faith: Beginnings in North America,” World Order magazine, vol. 18, no. 4 (Summer 1984): 7-27.
Books
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockman, Robert
Harvard Divinity School alumni
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Living people
Religion academics
Converts to the Bahá'í Faith
American Bahá'ís
20th-century Bahá'ís
Wesleyan University alumni
People from Granby, Connecticut
Brown University alumni
21st-century Bahá'ís
1953 births
Historians from Connecticut
American male non-fiction writers