Special Interest Groups are agencies of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, which itself is an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada. Both the Association and its Special Interest Groups are structured as membership organisations with appointed administrators. Both exist to stimulate scholarly study of the Faith and its teachings, to promote a sound understanding of the Cause in academic circles, to demonstrate its relevance to the study of social issues, and to stimulate an appetite for learning within the Bahá’í community generally. In order to serve these purposes, the specific goals of the Special Interest Group system are as follows:

1. to promote networking among ABS members, based on their interests, fields and professions;
2. to mentor students and young people, in their studies and early professional life;
3. to encourage, inspire and facilitate individual and collaborative Bahá’í scholarship; and
4. to support, as appropriate, members’ “outward looking orientation” within their respective fields and professions, with particular emphasis on universities.