Those attracted to Israel for an internship or study abroad program from the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies may have to hold off on applications. As the Institute’s grant completes its cycle, unresolved issues remain in flux to determine Glazer’s fate in the coming academic year, according to Glazer liaison John Fishel.
In 2008 the Glazer Foundation gave Pepperdine a grant to establish the Jewish studies initiative that would lead to greater interfaith understanding. The Glazer Institute works through a three-point plan, comprised of classrom components, cultural components and international experiences to address interfaith topics.
Future funding streams for the Glazer Institute are presently being discussed.
Fishel, who became consultant to the foundation two years ago, wrote in an email that there is constant informal communication between the donors and Pepperdine, namely Program Director Dr. Ed Larson and coordinator Katie Hyten. The initial grant from the Glazer Foundation has been fully paid, and the University has been able to stretch those funds into next year, according the Dean Rick Marrs.
“We have also sought additional donors; in these tough economic times securing funding is always a challenge, but we’re doing what we can to keep these initiatives going,” Marrs wrote in an email.
The ongoing relationship between Glazer and Pepperdine has been called a complicated one, but Fishel in response said these are amicable relations. The Glazer Foundation, based in Beverly Hills is waiting on sustainable ways the University plans to fund the Institute and “have every confidence they will be able to,” according to Fishel.
Urgency hasn’t struck, but those involved with the Glazer Institute, a still relatively young program, cannot yet identify where or when exactly they will find another grant.
Larson was not available to answer questions concerning Glazer’s future and has been on leave this semester.
“Discussions are underway for the Glazer Foundation to consider another grant which would help ensure a transition of support while additional donors for the future are
sought,” Fishel said. “We hope that Pepperdine will eventually have a tenured faculty for Jewish Studies and the potential for creation of a Jewish Studies minor.”
Meanwhile, professors associated with Glazer and the Humanities Division — the main department through which the Institute works — remain on the periphery of the discussion.
Dr. Rebecca Golbert, visiting professor and associate director of the Glazer Institute, was hired as an international studies and languages professor with Glazer’s initial contract. Her first class, Humanities 313, integrated Jewish studies into an otherwise broader course. Dr. Andrea Siegel, Glazer’s visiting professor, now teaches the class, while Golbert has since taught a freshman seminar, Holocaust studies and two communication classes.
“The broader issues of where the institute is going are secondhand to me because my position is phasing out and the work for appealing for endowment has been the work of the administration,” Golbert said.
Golbert said when she first arrived at Pepperdine, the Institute did not specify what she was to teach or how to teach it. Instead, she and her class were part of a larger effort to reach a wider audience at Pepperdine. Golbert called this effort an inter-cultural and interfaith conversation in pluralism. She also said it was an ongoing adjustment.
In 2009, Glazer began slowly weaving Jewish Studies curricula into general education classes, and Glazer’s focus on the core programs remains in Seaver.
“This allowed the Institute to reach beyond the numbers of students not able to fit a specifically Jewish course into their academic schedule due to Pepperdine’s GE requirements or course requirements of their major or minor,” Fishel wrote in an email. “[E]xtracurricular programs built around Jewish holidays or other aspects of the faith were given higher visibility on campus attracting more interest.”
As a relatively new program, Glazer is still exploring how they appeal to that greater market, especially using GE course work. Hyten said Glazer wanted to avoid being the “stereotypical Jewish institute” at a Christian university by offering it as an interfaith program. This, she said, is the first campus-wide interfaith organization.
Hyten said the Institute has been pleased with the reception they have received from students and administration. According to Hyten, Glazer has taken more than 250 students to Israel. They also received over 30 applications for the internship program in Israel this summer.
