Pepperdine Dialogue Dinners

Eligibility and Deadline

All full-time Pepperdine faculty are eligible to apply.

• Deadline to Apply: Friday, August 30, 2024 at 12:00 PM
• Notification: Friday, September 13, 2024

Dates for the 2025 cycle are forthcoming.

Criteria for Selection

Space is limited and, should we receive more applications than we have room to accommodate, we will form groups according to the following criteria:

• Proportionate distribution by academic divisions
• Reason(s) for participating
• Distribution by field, rank, and/or length of service at Pepperdine

Responsibilities

Please only apply if you are able to: 

• Attend or watch a recording of all the two public lectures (10/1 AND 2/19)
• Attend the play in person (4/9, 4/10, 4/11, OR 4/12)
• Attend all three dialogue dinners for the entire period  (Track A - Tuesday 10/22, Tuesday 3/18, Saturday 4/12 OR Track B - Friday 11/1, Friday 3/14, Saturday 4/12)
• Do all of the assigned reading

Compensation

Full participation in these dialogues entitles the discussants to:

• An $1,350 stipend ($450/speaker)
• On-campus accommodation for the evening of each dialogue dinner for faculty or staff who live off-campus, limited to availability
• All three assigned books

Schedule

Reading	Speaker	Event	Date | Time	Location
	Dr. Anika Prather	Seaver College W. David Baird Lecture Series Dialogue Dinner The Black Intellectual Tradition	Tuesday, October 1, 2024 5:00 PM Track A –Tuesday, October 22, 2024 Track B –Friday, November 1, 2024  5:30 - 8:30 PM	Elkins Auditorium Mallman House
	Greg Lukianoff	Augustus and Patricia Tagliaferri Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series/President’s Speaker Series Dialogue Dinner The Canceling of the American Mind	Wednesday, February 19, 2025 6:00 PM Track B –Friday, March 14, 2025 Track A –Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:30-8:30 PM	Drescher The Six Chow House
	Passage, the Play by Christopher Chen Directed by Cathy Thomas-Grant	Seaver, Fine Arts Dialogue Dinner A Passage to India by E.M. Forster	Wednesday, April 9–Friday, April 11, 2025 7:30 PM Saturday, April 12, 2025 2 PM (any one of these showings) Tracks A and B | Saturday, April 12, 2025 5:00 PM Make-up dinner | Tuesday, April 15, 2025 5:30 PM	Smothers Theatre Brock House

Questions about the initiative can be directed to dialogue.dinners@pepperdine.edu.

Dialogue Dinner alumni are invited to form bespoke discussion groups in which you choose which lectures you attend, which books or articles you read, and when you meet. 

Interested parties should

• Choose a pod leader who will serve as the organizer, receive the books as ordered, handle reimbursements for group meals, and confirm the attendees after each meeting.
• Register your Pod. Fall Registration is Due the last Friday in August. Spring Registration is due the second Friday in December. Only the pod leader needs to fill out your form.
• There must be a minimum of 2 Schools represented in each group—more would be better. Master Alumni Roster
• Choose 1-2 approved lectures & readings. The list is on the registration form.
• Decide when and where your group will meet. Fall meetings must take place in September, October, November, or December. Spring meetings must take place in January, February, March, or April.
• Decide if your pod is willing to meet for an additional dinner that includes students. You can repeat any of the readings that you’ve already completed.
• Fill out the survey at the end of the year.

Participants are eligible to receive

• Books (if relevant) for all participants
• Reimbursement for food and drink at a local restaurant (managed by the pod leader)
• $100 stipend/person/event for participation ($250 for the pod leader)

The Dialogue Dinners Student track invites student participants to spark conversations across ideological differences and to lead the community toward shared understanding and unity. 

The pilot collaboration, started in the 2024-2025 school year between the Pepperdine Dialogue Dinners faculty pod groups and student-led Veritas Club is designed to foster a space of inclusivity and belonging, through open dialogue, among students, faculty, and the overall Pepperdine community.

If you are interested in the program, please contact Madison Luc, the Dialogue Dinners Student Liaison, at madison.luc@pepperdine.edu.

Applications for the program in the 2025-2026 school year will open in August 2025.

Applications are now open for the Dialogue Dinners Special Program, on Jordan Peterson’s lecture and book, We Who Wrestle with God. 

Reading: We Who Wrestle with God, Perceptions of the Divine
Dinner Discussion: Friday, Apr 4, 2025, 5:30-8:30pm, Brock House
Lecture: Monday, Apr 7, 2025, 4:00pm, Firestone Fieldhouse

Participants must commit to reading the entirety of the reading, attending the public lecture in person, and attending all of the associated dinner discussion. 

Participants will receive copies of the assigned books, a stipend $100 stipend for their participation. The option of on-campus accommodation on the night of the dinners. Faculty and full-time staff are invited to participate. 

Applications are due on Friday, February 21, 2024 at 12 noon.