Pepperdine’s newest summer program will open this summer in Kampala, Uganda. The program emulates the past faculty-led summer program with students spending 12 days in Malibu then 12 days in Uganda learning about the culture and meeting with local leaders. Photo courtesy of Charlie Englemann.
Pepperdine will launch a new International Program this summer from June 6 to July 7 in Uganda, expanding on a preexisting faculty-led summer program in Kenya. Dean of International Programs Beth Laux and Ron Cox, associate dean of International Programs assembled the program to cultivate faith and advocacy within Pepperdine.
“The purpose of this program is community engagement and experiential learning,” Laux said. “[These] are the methodologies that we’re primarily leaning on.”
The unique location of the summer program further deepens the experience and values Pepperdine students gain from studying abroad.
The Uganda program focuses on learning and deepening awareness about current issues rather than service, Cox said.
“It will not be what we do in Uganda, but what the students come back [with] and are able to do differently here in their own efforts to engage in faith and advocacy,” Cox said. “It’s connected with this notion of humility and having a sense of focusing on being present where we are and receiving, and not coming to the assumption that we can just come in and start doing things.”
Similarly to the Made in the Streets Summer Program that Pepperdine runs in Kenya every other summer, students will spend two weeks in Malibu focusing on academics and building community, and then another two weeks will be spent in Uganda.
“Our base of operations will be in Kampala, but we will actually be traveling around the country quite a bit, which is really exciting, because Uganda is a very diverse and naturally rich country,” Laux said.
There will be three classes offered during the summer program: International Studies 250, Humanities 295 and Religion 301. For students who have previously taken those classes, International Studies 498 and Religion 599 will also be offered.
“The whole program is being designed around themes of faith and advocacy, so we’ve got classes that are being developed to help students navigate those topics on an intellectual and practical level,” Laux said.
Laux plans to teach International Studies 250, which she said will allow students to think through current issues in the U.S. and abroad.
“We’ll be going to Uganda and seeing how other people have enacted a plan to affect change and what can we learn from that that could enhance what we’ve talked about in INTS 250,” Laux said. “There’s a direct connection between the experiences we have and the topics we talked about in the classroom.”
Religion 301 will provide students with an understanding of the history of Christianity in Uganda. Cox will teach the class on an idea of Kenotic theology — an idea of self-emptying and learning to be present in a different context than usual. Cox said he wants to show his students how the best intentions can lead to harmful consequences if humility and love are not appropriately applied.
Applications for the Uganda Summer Program are still open and close Jan. 31.
“We’ve had a lot of interest actually, it really picked up in the last few weeks. We’re very excited,” Laux said. “Applications are coming in pretty fast and furious at this point, and we’re excited to meet with the students and get to know which sectors of Seaver College really resonate with these experiences.”
First-year Anna Spivey said she plans to travel to Uganda and participate in the new program this summer. Spivey said she first heard about the program because of the INTS 250 class required as a Global Fellow.
“I think especially since the program has such a strong mission for global leadership, that’s also played a really strong role in terms of why I chose it over say, the Japan program or the Fiji program, or the Scotland program,” Spivey said.
Spivey is an International Business Major and said she desires to gain leadership knowledge and new friendships through the Uganda program.
“I think it’ll be really fun to get to go with a group of students that have similar values and similar ambitions that I do, and to be able to bond through that while also getting to hear other people’s ideas and understand why they specifically are passionate about global leadership,” Spivey said.
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Email Graeson Claunch: graeson.claunch@pepperdine.edu
