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Pepperdine | Seaver College

First-Year Seminar Courses

Course Descriptions: Spring 2024

  American Language and Culture

Stephanie Donnelly  | American Language and Culture

In American Characterization, students develop an awareness of America as a "character" through the exploration of key contemporary media. They identify key features of modern culture and analyze their depiction in film, television, and other entertainment through the frameworks of tradition, subversion, and self-comparison. The course promotes cross-cultural understanding and aims to encourage deep insight into American identity from a global perspective.

*For international students*

  The Good Life

Cari Myers  | The Good Life

The course is constructed around four timeless questions that every college student should confront:
1. What does it mean to live a good life?
2. How do we think about what we should do with our lives?
3. What is good to do and how do we know? (The moral question)
4. What guidance does Christianity provide us toward “good living?”
Through a selection of short readings, discussion, research and writing, students will delve into
these issues and hopefully, make some initial decisions about what matters most. Secondly, this
course focuses on adjusting to college life (generally) and Pepperdine University (specifically).

 

  Social Action and Justice Colloquium I

Terrelle Sales  | Social Action and Justice Colloquium I

A seminar focused on issues of social justice. Students examine how each of the following has affected social justice in the United States from the eighteenth century to the present: the social construction of racial identity, the role of gender in social equality, and the influence of socioeconomic background. The seminar actively promotes the development of academic and “real world” skills such as critical thinking, research, writing, oral presentation, and use of technology. Students explore strategies for promoting social justice and engage in service-learning experiences.