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News and Events

News & Events Recap

September 2010

  • Professional musicians presented oboe, string, jazz woodwinds, woodwind repair, and career idea master classes at the first "Fall for Music Weekend" at Pepperdine University from September 30, to October 2. The classes were free and open to all.
  • Author and professor William Perez discussed the academic future of undocumented students in a lecture titled, "Exceptional Students, Marginal Lives: Achievement and Civic Engagement Among Undocumented Latino Youth," on September 29. The lecture was the first in the 2010-11 Diversity Council Speaker Series at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology and also the first event to mark Latino Heritage Month at Pepperdine University.
  • The Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law hosted an innovative giving conference titled, “Mobile Giving Demystified,” from September 27, to September 28, at the Villa Grazadio Executive Center. Co-hosted with the Innogive Foundation and the Graziadio School of Business and Management, the conference aimed to teach participants about the latest in mobile giving tools and strategies that can enhance the reach and relevance of non-profits both large and small.
  • Pepperdine University announced the adoption of Sakai, an open source learning management system (LMS), to replace Blackboard as the University’s official learning management system.
  • Nationally recognized independent rankings bodies and current college students named Pepperdine University in several leading national surveys that are widely distributed throughout the country.
  • Pepperdine University’s Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law recently welcomed Andrei Duta as the inaugural entrepreneur-in-residence. Duta formerly worked at Pepperdine’s Seaver College in the Business Administration Division as an assistant professor of organizational behavior and management.
  • The Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture (EMC) screened one of Taiwan's most prized films, Cape No. 7, on September 27. Cape No. 7 is the largest production in Taiwanese film history and holds the position as the second highest grossing film of all time in Taiwan, only behind Titanic. It has won numerous awards across the globe and continues to showcase Taiwanese filmmaking to new audiences.
  • Carrie Birmingham, associate professor of teacher education, presented "Romance and Irony: How Mothers of Children with Autism Use Narrative Structure to Express Hope," as the first featured speaker of the Fall 2010 Humanities and Teacher Education (HUTE) Symposium on September 22.
  • The award-winning Canadian indie music duo Dala performed a concert at the Pepperdine University Center for the Arts on September 25, bringing their ethereal folk music to Smothers Theatre, Malibu.
  • The 2010-11 season at the Center for the Arts opened on September 24 with a concert by the original "Daydream Believer", former Monkees band member Davy Jones.
  • Seaver College hosted the first speaker in the 2010-11 Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series on September 23, when author and actress Donzaleigh Abernathy shared her experiences on the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.
  • September 17, 1787, marks the day the Constitution of the United States of America was signed by America's Founders. To mark the anniversary, professor of public policy Gordon Lloyd presented "Ten Ways to Love Your Framers" on September 21, in the Drescher Graduate Campus Auditorium.
  • Continuing their Monday Nights at the Movies series, the Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture screened Murder in Mississippi, followed by a Q&A with the film's producer, Tova Laiter, on September 20.
  • Alumni Lauren Parsekian ('09) and Molly Stroud ('09) launched the nonprofit Kind Campaign last year to address female adolescent violence and bullying, and took the campaign on the road to film the documentary, Finding Kind. On September 19, they returned to their alma mater to premiere the film in Elkins Auditorium, Malibu.
  • The Pepperdine University Fine Arts Division presented a classical guitar master class with internationally renowned guitarist Christopher Parkening on Septempter18. Parkening is s a Distinguished Professor of Music, chair of the Guitar Department at Pepperdine, and one of the world's preeminent virtuosos of the classical guitar.
  • The 2010-11 Seaver Faculty Colloquium began September 16, when associate professor of communication Craig Detweiler discussed the newly-published book, Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God, which he edited.
  • Author and distinguished Cambridge University scholar Michael Ward visited Pepperdine on September 15, for two convocation lectures: "Spiritual Wisdom of C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader" in Malibu's Stauffer Chapel, and "Unlocking Narnia: The Planetary Key to C.S. Lewis's Chronicles" in Elkins Auditorium.
  • The Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture hosted a screening of the film, I Am, followed by a Q&A with its director, Tom Shadyac, on September 13, in Elkins Auditorium. I Am is a documentary film following director Tom Shadyac's close encounter with death, after which he goes on a search for something more.
  • Pepperdine University Chancellor Emeritus Charles B. Runnels—who has long been a supporter of Pepperdine Athletics—was honored in a ceremony on Monday, Sept. 13, as the Waves’ athletics complex was dedicated as the "Charles B. Runnels Sports and Recreation Village.”
  • Honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Pepperdine University’s expansive lawn at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road displayed one flag for each of the nearly 3,000 lives lost on 9/11. It began on September 11 and continued through September 19.
  • Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, a retired pilot for the United States Air Force and author of Conduct Unbecoming, came to Pepperdine University on September 11, to present a memorial lecture titled, "Never Forget: Remembering 9/11." The event was hosted by the University's College Republicans; Patterson signed copies of Conduct Unbecoming following his presentation.
  • The Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics hosted a panel discussion titled, "The Mosque Next Door: A Debate on Religious Freedom in America," on September 10 at the School of Law. Formatted as a discussion between professors Shelley Ross Saxer and Robert J. Pushaw, the event covered the legal issues found in the controversy over the proposed Muslim community center and prayer hall located close to Ground Zero in New York City. Professor Robert F. Cochran, Jr., director of the Nootbaar Institute, moderated the discussion.
  • While some college students look forward to prime-time television on Thursday evenings, many Pepperdine students look forward to Thursday evenings for the weekly U.S. foreign policy roundtables hosted by Bruce Herschensohn, senior fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. Starting September 9, Herschensohn once again conducted a series of 12 weekly U.S. foreign policy roundtable discussions at the Drescher Graduate Campus Auditorium.
  • As a new, diverse class of freshmen settled in among the student body at Pepperdine University, the 2010 CultureFest and Club Fair brought the community together in a celebration of the university's cultural diversity. Hosted by the Office of Intercultural Affairs with the Student Programming Board, Student Government Association, and the Inter-Club Council, the event was held on September 8.
  • The Pepperdine men's water polo team tried to make up serious ground lost in preseason placement during a three-game exhibition in Malibu on September 5 against Golden West JC, UC Santa Barbara, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
  • The Pepperdine women's volleyball team took on Rice University on September 3, in the Waves' first home game of the season. It was the first of three home games comprising the Pepperdine Asics Classic; the Waves also took on Eastern Washington on September 4, followed that evening by a match against Missouri.
  • Ratan N. Tata, chair of Tata group, was conferred with the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws by the president and Board of Regents of Pepperdine University at a formal ceremony held in The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, on September 3.
  • Pepperdine welcomed Brigham Young University (BYU) as a new member of the West Coast Conference (WCC) after a joint announcement by BYU and the WCC.
  • On September 2, the Center for Entertainment, Media and Culture partnered with the Nootbaar Institute’s International Human Rights Program at the School of Law to bring author and human rights activist Eric Volz to Pepperdine University. The author of Gringo Nightmare spoke first at a law school luncheon, followed by a public presentation and book signing at Payson Library.
  • With everyone from the CMEGroup to Donald Trump embracing Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, social networking has fast become an integral component of corporate communication. On September 1, the Graziadio School of Business and Management hosted a conference—Social Networking and Knowledge Management: What's Emerging from Pandora's Box?"—to explore how organizations can best use social networking technologies to capture, store, share, and reuse knowledge for a competitive advantage.
  • The 2010 Pepperdine Cross Country season got underway on September 1 at the annual Malibu Oceanside Open. This was the first and only home contest for the Waves in 2010, with both courses beginning on Alumni Park.