Pepperdine University Receives $393,000 Grant to Expand Great Books Curriculum

MALIBU, California – Pepperdine University has been awarded a 2025 Institutional Impact Grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), part of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. The $393,000 grant will enable Pepperdine to explore expanding its Great Books program into a full, four-year curriculum pathway focused on character formation and the study of classical texts. 

“The significant recognition from Lilly Endowment, Inc., through this grant enables Seaver College to expand and deepen the reach of our Great Books program with a focus on character formation and virtue,” said Provost Jay Brewster. “This program facilitates student engagement with foundational voices of Western civilization and integrates consideration of issues facing the global present.”

The grant is co-led by Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books and Humanities, and Dr. Paul Begin, associate dean of curriculum and general education. As co-principal investigators, they will guide the initiative to broaden access, deepen character education, and strengthen Pepperdine’s identity as a university that integrates intellectual rigor with Christian virtue.

“After 40 years of a small but powerful colloquium, we are excited to create a full core curriculum alternative to regular general education requirements," said Hooten Wilson. “This new pathway centers on relationships with faculty and fellow students in seminar courses reading and discussing the greatest wisdom passed down through human tradition—all the way through a student’s four-year degree.”

The expanded program will emphasize dialogue, virtue, and cultivating meaningful relationships between students and faculty across academic programs. It reflects Pepperdine’s mission to combine Christian values with deep learning and professional preparation. In a time of increasing reliance on technology, the program also reinforces human interaction and moral reflection. 

“At Seaver we have always been concerned with the whole person,” says Begin. “But we sometimes assume character development through osmosis—by putting students in contact with faculty and staff of high character that they, too, will increase in character. With this project we hope to bring character development to the foreground and become more intentional about cultivating character in our students.”

The grant will also support faculty development and community engagement, including efforts to expand programs like the Great Books Club for alumni and parents. 

“The Great Books colloquium invites students into a story that began before them and continues after them,” explains Hooten Wilson. “We aim beyond career readiness to form embodied souls ready to witness to the world what human flourishing looks like in action.”

The ECI Institutional Impact Grant is awarded to colleges and universities advancing character education across campus. It is funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc.

About Pepperdine University

Founded in 1937, Pepperdine University is an independent, Christian university located 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles in scenic Malibu, California. The University enrolls approximately 10,300 students across its flagship liberal arts school, Seaver College; the College of Health Science, and four graduate schools—the Caruso School of Law; the Graziadio Business School; the Graduate School of Education and Psychology; and the School of Public Policy. Pepperdine is committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. Follow Pepperdine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

 

Media Contact

Public Relations Office
pr@pepperdine.edu
818.702.1401