Perspectives

‘Tis the season. No, not Christmas season nor even the season of other proper holidays like Thanksgiving or Daylight Savings . Indeed, those lovely days will be coming soon. Has anybody else noticed the pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks or the sweet promise of winter break just around the corner? Added to that, cold northern winds are blowing across the bluffs to prompt many a … [Read more...] about Nam Knows Best: Formally Yours

These were the wise words that Dean Hall used to open our Listening Summit last weekend. The idea of the Listening Summit is to bring us together with Italian university students and listen to each other to gain a better understanding of one another. We talked about domestic politics, foreign policy, culture and the economy. Somewhere in the midst of all this academic talk, … [Read more...] about 'Listen Deeply. Speak Kindly. Love Generously.'

A Missouri pastor named Phil Snider recently made waves when he delivered a speech at the Springfield City Council that began as an attack on gay marriage but underwent an unexpected 180 degree turn as he concluded by advocating for marriage equality. I would encourage you to watch the video yourself, to experience the full impact of the surprise plot twist, but in short, he … [Read more...] about Conservatism takes a turn for the better

Last year Pepperdine tried out a student exchange sort of weekend in which a group of Pepperdine students were paired up with a group of foreign students. They said it was such a huge success that this year they decided to launch the program titled the “Listening Summit” in every IP program. To be honest, the Pepperdine Listening Summit applications weren’t too enticing. And … [Read more...] about Live from London: Listening Summit knocks out expectations

It’s that time again — the time when we all suddenly feel entitled to voice a political opinion because we’ve invested a total of four whole hours into watching the presidential debates. Many of us are tempted to fall under the delusion that listening to President Barack Obama and his challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney, exchange words somehow educates us better than other campaign … [Read more...] about Responsible and informed voters needed