Pepperdine will add new courses on the Middle East beginning in fall 2009 as part of an effort to increase dialogue between Jews Muslims and Christians. Prominent Jewish philanthropists Guilford and Diane Glazer donated $1.86 million for a program that will include a professor of modern Jewish history and a $1 million grant from the Fletcher Jones Foundation will fund partially fund Middle Eastern studies.
“If [the courses] really heighten awareness and give our students more selection in the courses they are willing to take – to make them even more conversant with that part of the world – then it will be a success said Seaver College Dean Rick Marrs.
The Fletcher Jones grant supports hiring a professor to teach a Middle Eastern studies course. The Glazer gift, guaranteed for the next three years, supports hiring an adjunct professor of modern Jewish history and possibly an adjunct professor from the American Jewish University. The grant also supports student travel to Israel and endows Pepperdine with a lecture series on the Middle East. In the summer of 2009, School of Law Dean Ken Starr will accompany the first group of approximately 25 Seaver students and 25 law students to Israel.
Provost Daryl Tippens is the primary coordinator for the Middle East program and Glazer donation.
I think this is new territory for us – I’m not aware of anything quite this ambitious in my time here said Tippens, who has worked at Pepperdine for nine years.
The Glazer gift comes at a time when Pepperdine School of Law’s Straus Center for Dispute Resolution is increasingly engaging in Middle East reconciliation.
We have one of the top-rated dispute resolution programs so the question was: ‘Could we use those skills to bring people together in a conflicted part of the world?'” Tippens said.
Tippens said he believes Pepperdine can play a transformative role in inter-faith reconciliation.
“There are lots of organizations and institutions interested in the Middle East. Because of [Pepperdine’s] faith heritage we believe religion has to be part of the equation. That means we can do things even the government can’t Tippens said.
The Glazer Institute also supports faith-based diplomacy.
Religious dialogue is at the root of some of the most significant issues relating to the tensions between the three groups said Roger Alford, director of the Glazer Institute. As a university [Pepperdine is] well-positioned because [it] take[s] religion seriously to be part of the process and work toward reconciliation.”
The Glazer gift will focus on increasing awareness of Jewish culture and history.
“Mr. Glazer is Jewish so he’s very much interested in the Jewish question … that doesn’t mean he turns a blind eye to the complexities of the situation Tippens said. Peace in the interest of everybody. I’ve met him and I believe that’s where his heart is. He believes in moderation.”
Some students said Pepperdine should balance the Jewish history courses with an Arab professor. “If they really want to pursue something about the Middle East they are going to need something about Arab culture or history and Muslims said freshman Selin Uzal, who is from Istanbul, Turkey. If there’s a Jewish history class but not an Arab history class you’re telling [students how to think about] the conflict by only saying one side of it.”
While applauding the university for adding these programs other students said they agree that Pepperdine should incorporate an Arab component in the Middle Eastern studies curriculum.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction but it would be truly exceptional and impressive [if the University] would make an effort to at least embrace world dialogue said junior Omid Heidari, an interpersonal communication major. [It’s] not that having a Jewish course would bring imbalance -I think it’s progress and part of our Christian heritage – but a truly exceptional step would also incorporate reaching a hand out to the Muslim world.”
Pepperdine students’ appreciation for Jewish history and culture is minimal Tippens said.
“Most of our students come from a Christian background. Encounters with Jews or Muslims are pretty limited – that’s my hunch Tippens said. Most of our students know very little about Jewish history unless they’ve read Anne Frank’s diary.”
The gift should reverse this trend organizers said.
“We are trying to focus on inter-faith dialogue reconciliation [and] simply educating the Pepperdine community about Jewish life and people outside Pepperdine about who we are and about our sense of commonality with people of Abraham Alford said.
Marrs said he hopes to announce the appointment of the Jewish history and Middle Eastern studies professors by the end of the semester. He said he is reviewing candidates for both positions and that the specialties of the professors the university hires will determine the coursework.
This person would be able to teach everything from history of the Middle East to politics or culture of the Middle East. We may even be able to pick up someone who can teach beginning Arabic Marrs said.
Uzal recommended that the Middle Eastern studies class focus on the geography, ancient history, religions and cultures of the entire Middle East, which she views as a Western term.
Middle East is not one big country – there are different countries and different cultures Uzal said. ‘Middle East studies’ doesn’t mean anything to me.”
The Middle East courses will likely fulfill the non-Western general education requirement or course requirements for international studies majors according to Marrs.
Alford said the lecture series will emphasize the commonalities between the Christian Jewish and Muslim communities and will include experts on each of the three faiths. Although the lectures will be primarily for Pepperdine students they will be open to visitors he said. Pepperdine has yet to arrange the speakers.
In fall 2008 as part of a Middle Eastern studies pilot program political science professor Carolyn James taught “Challenges to Peace: The Middle East.”
“There are not a lot of places where people with very different points of view on very emotional subjects can sit down and have that kind of intercourse” James said referring to classes about the Middle East.
Some students said they agree that Middle Eastern coursework has been lacking at Pepperdine.
There is currently only one Middle Eastern course offered at Seaver College in Malibu and none about Jewish History according to Andrea Gillie Harris senior director of Administrative Services.
“If we did bring in professors who were more distinguished in specific areas like Jewish history or the Middle East it would really open up the program to a lot more students who are interested in that type of coursework said junior Katie Hyten, an international studies major. I definitely would have taken a course in Arabic.”
Students said a thorough understanding of the Middle East is essential.
“With the current situation we find ourselves in people in America are asking more and more questions about the mysterious Middle East and I think it should be a top priority for any college to face that challenge wrote junior Alex Cox, a religion major who is studying Farsi on his own, in an e-mail to the Graphic.