MAIA KNUDSEN-SCHULE
Staff Writer
English, history, and philosophy. These majors are all part of Pepperdine’s Humanities Division. Along with these traditionally rigorous majors joins creative writing, film studies, women’s studies, and African American Studies. With this rather wide range of studies, no wonder the students belonging to this program are pleased with the results.
Add the Great Books Colloquium, introduced to freshmen the summer before they arrive at Pepperdine, and the result is happy students like Stephanie Russo, freshman broadcast news major.
“I’m happy because I’m learning a lot about a lot of books, and the best part is, they transfer into other courses, especially Humanities 111,” said Russo. Although the course load is pretty intense—students take four semesters of the Great Books Colloquium—the benefits are many.
Great Books satisfies five general education requirements: Freshman Seminar, English Composition, a literature course, Religion and Culture, and one of four other G.E. courses (see Pepperdine.edu).
“I’m going to be completely honest,” said Russo. “I joined mainly to take care of those G.E.s.” The only negative thing Russo could say about Great Books is the teaching style. The class is taught in Socratic seminar style. “Often one person dominates the conversation,” Russo said, “and it makes it tough to have quality interaction with the professor.”
This weakness is also a strength, however. “Although the Socratic style is tough, it forces me to be aggressive, which will help me overall in my broadcasting career,” Russo added.
Another Great Books student, Joe Hooker, is entirely involved in the Humanities Division. A history and an English major, Hooker spends the majority of his time in the Cultural Arts Center. Hooker, like Russo, had nothing but nice things to say about his experiences within the department. “It’s a good time. The professors are great. They are so excited about what they are teaching and are excited to help.”
Hooker hopes to apply his history and English majors and attend Pepperdine Law School, where he would like to complete the Joint Master of Public Policy and Juris Doctor degree. He wants to one day be a corporate lawyer, and says English is important because of the vast amount of writing necessary in his field.
When asked about his favorite professor, Hooker, with a broad smile, talked about Professor Paul Contino. “He’s great, really. He’s enthusiastic and really personable. He even invited our entire class to dinner at his house.” Russo agreed: “He’s a fair grader, challenging, and taught really well.”
Film studies is one of the new programs within the Humanities Division. Many students praise the new program. A few , like Pierce Brown, a freshman film studies minor, has mixed feelings. With aspirations of being on the business aspect of the film industry, Brown feels like the division could focus more on the economy of film.
Creative writing is another major within the Humanities Division. Sophomore Steven Arnold is a strong supporter of his major. Arnold credits his passion for creative writing to his mother, an English major who home schooled him all of his life. “My mom encouraged creative writing,” said Arnold.
Arnold, along with the majority of other majors from the Humanities Division, is satisfied with his progress. One of the aspects of the creative writing program that Arnold likes is that it is so small and so geared toward individual needs. The class, according to Arnold, is pretty specific for people with a different kind of writing style.
“It’s not about grammar or spelling, but getting entertaining ideas on paper,” said Arnold. The department focuses more on the improvement of skills than the development of new ones, which is something that is important to Arnold.
Arnold hopes to take his skills learned in his creative writing classes and use them to pursue a career in screenplay writing, collaborating on screenplays, producing, or directing. “No matter what I’m going to be in the entertainment industry, I’m going to be in Hollywood,” said Arnold.
The Humanities Division seems to be sparking the interests of a wide range of students, strengthening those students for lives for purpose, service, and leadership.
Humanities Division Headcount (as of 2005)
|
English |
57 |
|
History |
49 |
|
Humanities |
10 |
|
Philosophy |
10 |
|
Other |
101 |
Division Total |
227 |
Provided by Pepperdine.edu
04-16-2007