GSEP Academic Catalog 2006-2007 Full Download - Graduate ...

6 President’s Message
President’s Message
Beginning in 1937, when an experienced and
dedicated faculty was gathered for the school’s
first year, Pepperdine University has maintained
a long and rich heritage of academic excellence.
Today we continue that tradition as we apply
ourselves to an important goal, strengthening
our emphasis on scholarship and culture. We
are interested in seeing that each member of
the faculty is encouraged to rise among his
or her peers in scholarship and to advance
thinking within that chosen discipline.
As we focus on scholarship, we do not for a moment remove our attention
from what we believe is the central task of education: teaching. Though some
institutions may agonize over the problem, for Pepperdine the issue is not
teaching or research—it is nationally recognized scholarship in support of
excellent teaching.
We understand that you, as a student, want and need training for a successful
career in life. That is a “given.” But Pepperdine also believes it is important that
we help you to become an enlightened, civil, and cultured citizen. In addition
to your major academic concentration and perhaps familiarity with other
disciplines, it is important to celebrate music, drama, literature, poetry, and art.
We hope you will be in daily contact with these expressions of the human spirit.
A number of distinguished scholars have observed the weakening of our
culture. In 2000, the eminent Jacques Barzun, former professor and provost
of Columbia University, released his opus, From Dawn to Decadence. The title
seems to speak volumes. It is certainly not impossible to wake up one day and
realize that we have become a nation of highly trained (and perhaps even highly
paid) barbarians. But at Pepperdine, we believe that higher education has a duty
to preserve those things that are timeless and that ennoble humanity.
Welcome to a University that cares deeply about the past, present, and future.
We honor the past, live and serve in the present, and plan for a bright future.
We also commend to you the life of the mind, the life of the spirit, and the life
of community.
Andrew K. Benton
President