The Diane and Guilford Glazer Institute, a program on campus designed to “enrich the lives of students interested in Jewish studies,” was in financial jeopardy as issues with funding arose last spring. Fortunately for students interested in the program’s special events and international experiences, additional grant money has been awarded to the Glazer Institute.
Drew Billings, the new program coordinator for the Glazer Institute, wrote in an email, “The Glazer family has generously given another grant this summer that ensures not only the continuation, but also the expansion, of our programming over the next four years.”
Billings, in the process of receiving his doctorate in Religious Studies, conducted research encompassing Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman World. Billings said he is currently writing his dissertation on “political motivations which led to the eventual separation between Christianity and Judaism into two distinct religious groups.”
The Glazer Institute also received a grant from the Brenden Mann Foundation that will sponsor the institute’s 2013 Israel Internship program.
“We are currently searching for additional donors interested in sponsoring an archaeological dig in Israel on the shore of the Sea of Galilee for the summer of 2013 and for future years,” Billings wrote.
Monica Osborne, new visiting professor of Jewish Studies, will take an “interdisciplinary approach” concerning collective Jewish tragedies, representation and Midrash in modern context.
This new funding has prompted the institute to venture into new aspects of faith education. There will be five new initiatives of the Glazer Institute beginning this semester.
“The Glazer Scholars Program awards scholarships to undergraduate students interested in focusing a portion of their time at Pepperdine toward Jewish Studies courses and a Glazer-sponsored capstone experience,” Billings wrote.
John Fishel, consultant to the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation, was out of the office and unable to comment on the Glazer Institute’s progress.
The program will be hosting a number of events this year geared toward students who want to visit Jewish Institutions in the greater Los Angeles area. Locations include the Malibu Jewish Cultural Center, Jewish County Fair, Skirball Cultural Center, Museum of Tolerance and Holocaust Museum.
The Glazer Institute also plans to host Zion Ozeri, a renowned Jewish photographer. Ozeri will be giving a lecture and displaying his work featuring pieces captured around the world.
The program will also feature a new educational series in which “the Glazer Institute will team up with the Old Testament professors in offering co-curricular events such as lectures from famous Jewish biblical scholars and museum visits,” Billings wrote.
The Glazer Institute will team up with New Testament professors to offer additional educational enrichment focused on Jewish perspectives on early Christianity. Other courses will be sponsored this year by the institute including Osborne’s ENG 205 and 370.
Funding was the underlying issue with the program last year, making communication between Pepperdine and the Glazer Institute vital in the institute’s survival.
The Glazer Institute has been working closely with many administrators as well as other faculty members to transition smoothly into their expansion.
Billings said he is hopeful that the institute’s growth, both in special programs and educational opportunities, will draw attention from the Pepperdine community.
“Long term I would love to see Glazer be able to endow a permanent position in Jewish studies at Seaver, and continue to provide funding for curricular revisions or new courses,” Dean Rick Marrs wrote in an email.
Marrs wrote he also hopes to see support from Glazer in funding trips to Israel for Seaver students.
