Pepperdine University is saddened to announce the passing of Milton J. Shatzer, professor emeritus of communication at Seaver College. 

“An educator, scholar, and Christian servant, Milt served as both an example and mentor to several generations of Seaver College students,” said Seaver College dean Michael Feltner. “Milt is remembered fondly by peers for his gentle demeanor, grace, and sacrificial commitment to Seaver College students and faculty. We celebrate his life and the positive impact of his work at Pepperdine on the lives of his students and peers.”

During his tenure, Shatzer led students in the exploration of communication studies, including intercultural communication; international communication and negotiation; media worldwide; and a freshman seminar focused on his passion—Middle East studies—entitled “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Prospects for Peace Through Better Communication.” His particular academic interests were related to the influence of college study abroad programs on US undergraduate students.

Shatzer served as an elder at the University Church of Christ until 2011. He and his wife, Nancy, who has served as an internship coordinator and industry specialist for Pepperdine’s Career Center since 1999, were devoted to their faith and served as missionaries in Nazareth.

Shatzer earned his PhD in communication from Michigan State University in 1987 and a master’s degree in missiology from Abilene Christian University in Texas in 1976. In 1970 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Shatzer is survived by his wife, Nancy; son, Jeremy (JD ’09); and daughter, Christin (’03). Details of funeral arrangements will be updated here as more information becomes available.

Combining gymnastics, weight sharing, pop dance, and performance art in a delightfully whimsical human circus, the innovative award-winning dance troupe Pilobolus will come to Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Thursday, January 25, at 8 PM.

The company’s current program, “Pilobolus Maximus – Beyond the Limits of Dance,” takes the most diverse and impactful elements of Pilobolus—some old, and some brand new—and assembles them in a series of continually changing worlds. From the irreverence of a wild circus to the physical filigree of their most classical work, “Maximus” is not only the best of Pilobolus but also the most revealing of how diverse and surprising Pilobolus' repertoire can be.

The company will perform the following five pieces:

• á la B’zyrk (Intro/Outro)

Choreographed by the late Jonathan Wolken, á la B’zyrk features a carnival of rehearsal clowns within a dreamlike continuity of imagery.

• On The Nature Of Things (2014)

This piece was commissioned by The Dau Family Foundation in honor of Elizabeth Hoffman and David Mechlin; Treacy and Darcy Beyer; The American Dance Festival with support from the SHS Foundation and the Charles L. and Stephanie Reinhart Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Performed by three dancers balanced on a two-foot wide column rising above the stage, On The Nature Of Things explores the power of iconic bodies to tell a story about the birth of desire and its intertwined connection to shame and revenge.

• Branches (2017)

Commissioned by the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Branches is a new work scored entirely with natural sound. This piece searches for the comedy in our Darwinian world in a way that is inherently unique to Pilobolus.

• [esc] (2013)

[esc] was commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the SHS Foundation and the Charles L. and Stephanie Reinhart Fund. [esc] was created through Pilobolus's International Collaborators Project with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Xerox Foundation. Masters of trickery, Penn & Teller teamed with Pilobolus to create the ultimate piece of gripping, do-not-try-this-at-home choreography. Fantasy, athleticism, strength, confinement, fetters, and escape are all at play in this tantalizing full company work.

• Rushes (2007)

Rushes was co-commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke Awards for New Work and additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; by the Joyce Theater’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work; and by Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Florida. It was also made possible in part by generous contributions from the Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York and from Jonathan M. Nadler. Rushes was created through Pilobolus’s International Collaborators Project with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Rushes employs objects to masterfully convey an enchanting wit, which leaves audiences moved and delighted.

Pilobolus is a rebellious dance company. For 45 years, Pilobolus has tested the limits of human physicality to explore the beauty and the power of connected bodies. They continue to bring this tradition to global audiences through post-disciplinary collaborations with some of the greatest influencers, thinkers, and creators in the world. Now, in our digitally driven and increasingly mediated landscape, Pilobolus also reaches beyond performance to teach people how to connect through designed live experiences. They bring decades of expertise telling stories with the human form to show diverse communities, brands, and organizations how to maximize group creativity, solve problems, create surprise, and generate joy through the power of nonverbal communication.

Pilobolus has created and toured over 120 pieces of repertory to more than 65 countries. They currently perform for over 300,000 people across the US and around the world each year. In the last year, Pilobolus was featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s TODAY Show, MTV’s Video Music Awards, The Harry Connick Show, ABC’s The Chew, and the CW Network’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Pilobolus has been recognized with many prestigious honors, including a TED Fellowship, a 2012 Grammy Award Nomination, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cultural Programming, and several Cannes Lion Awards at the International Festival of Creativity. In 2015 Pilobolus was named one of Dance Heritage Coalition’s “Irreplaceable Dance Treasures.” Pilobolus has collaborated with more than 25 brands and organizations in finance, retail, media, fashion, sports, and more to create bespoke performances for television, film, and live events.

Ticket prices range from $10 to $50. For additional information, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Two-time Grammy nominee Tommy Emmanuel, one of Australia's most respected guitarists, will once again bring his passionate and infectious live show to Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Wednesday, January 17, and Thursday, January 18, at 8 PM. Both shows will include performances by guitarist JD Simo.

Emmanuel’s shows are part of his tour supporting his new duets album Accomplice One, set to release on Friday, January 19, via CGP Sounds and distributed by Thirty Tigers. The 16-track collaborative album features guest artists such as Jason Isbell, Mark Knopfler, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Amanda Shires, Ricky Skaggs, and David Grisman, and includes a mix of new takes on indelible classics and brand new originals from Emmanuel and his collaborators.

A world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, and singer, Emmanuel is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances, and use of percussive effects on the guitar. With a musical repertoire that spans pop, jazz, blues, gospel, classical, flamenco, and aboriginal styles, his warm and soulful sound has won him hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide.

His unusual talent and life are common lore in Australia. Born into a musical family, Emmanuel first started playing guitar at the age of four, and joined his family's touring band just two years later. Following high school, he became one of Australia’s most in-demand rock musicians, playing guitar in a succession of bands, including one of Australia’s best-known acts, Dragon. He supplemented that with a side job as a studio musician, playing on recordings for Air Supply and Men At Work, as well as thousands of commercial jingles and tunes. In the 1980s he embarked on a successful solo career, and has released over 30 studio albums, and continues to intersect with some of the finest musicians throughout the world.

Emmanuel is one of only five musicians to hold the distinguished “Certified Guitar Player” (CGP) title from late music legend Chet Atkins. He has also received multiple awards by Guitar Player Magazine, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, an honor bestowed by the Queen in his homeland. He received two Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards (the Aussie equivalent of the Recording Academy), performed during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney, and has collaborated with Eric Clapton, Doc Watson, and John Denver.

Simo is a guitarist and singer who began playing guitar when he was five years old. At the age of 15, Simo recorded his first live EP in Phoenix, Arizona, which sold 5,000 copies. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2006, and joined the Don Kelley Band as the group’s lead guitarist. He also worked as an in-demand session musician. In 2010 Simo formed the band SIMO with bassist Frank Swart and drummer Adam Abrashoff. The group is currently on tour in support of their latest album, Rise & Shine.

Tickets range between $10 and $55, and are required for attendance.

For additional information about the performances, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Internationally recognized violinist Tessa Lark will perform at Pepperdine University’s Raitt Recital Hall on Sunday, January 21, at 2 PM, as the first artist of the new year in the 2017-18 Recital Series. Concert pianist Julio Elizalde will accompany Lark on stage.

Lark’s music program will feature:

• Francis Poulenc: Violin Sonata
  • Allegro con fuoco
  • Intermezzo
  • Presto tragico
• Gabriel Fauré: Berceuse, Op. 16
• Maurice Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2
  • Allegretto
  • Blues: Moderato
  • Perpetuum mobile: Allegro
• César Franck: Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano
  • Allegretto ben moderato
  • Allegro
  • Ben moderato: Recitativo-Fantasia
  • Allegretto poco mosso
• Maurice Ravel: Tzigane

Recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the ninth Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition, Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of her time. She is consistently praised by critics and audiences alike for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, captivating interpretations, and multi-genre programming and performance. Also the recipient of a career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts in 2014, Lark continues to expand her relationships with orchestras and presenters on stages worldwide.

She made her concerto debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at age 16. As part of Carnegie Hall’s “Distinctive Debuts” series, she performed in February 2017 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Lark has also been presented by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Perlman Music Program, San Francisco Performances, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Ravinia’s Bennett-Gordon Classics series, the Troy Chromatics series, Chamber Music Tulsa, the Caramoor Wednesday Morning Concert Series, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Marlboro, Yellow Barn, and Olympic festivals. Highlights of her 2016-17 season include a recital with pianist Peter Klimo at Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht and US concerto engagements with the Alabama, Richardson, Valdosta, and South Florida symphonies; the Evansville and Lexington philharmonics; the Gettysburg and Mission chamber orchestras; and the Symphony of Westchester.

Lark has been soloist with the Cincinnati, New Haven, Hawaii, Santa Fe, Indianapolis, Cheyenne, Santa Cruz, and Peninsula symphony orchestras; the Louisville Orchestra; CityMusic Cleveland; the New Juilliard Ensemble Chamber Orchestras; and internationally with the Chinese Opera and Ballet Symphony.

A passionate chamber musician, she has toured with musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and will appear on two tours with Musicians from Marlboro in 2018. Her piano trio, Trio Modêtre, took top prize in the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Lark has collaborated with a growing list of renowned artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Donald Weilerstein, Pamela Frank, Kim Kashkashian, Peter Wiley, and Ralph Kirshbaum. She joined Caramoor Virtuosi as a result of her participation in Caramoor's Rising Stars Series.

Keeping in touch with her Kentucky roots, Lark performs and programs bluegrass and Appalachian music regularly. She collaborated with Mark O'Connor on his album MOC4, released in June 2014. She also plays jazz violin, most recently performing with the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York City. She premiered her own Appalachian Fantasy as part of her Distinctive Debuts recital at Carnegie Hall, where she also gave the world premiere of Michael Torke’s Spoon Bread, written specifically for her stylistic capabilities.

In addition to her busy performance schedule, Lark has served on the faculty of the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing. Additionally, as a From the Top alumna, Lark is active in their arts leadership program as a performer and educator. Lark’s primary mentors include Cathy McGlasson, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Miriam Fried, and Lucy Chapman.

She is a graduate of New England Conservatory and currently holds a Jerome L. Greene Fellowship and the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship in Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program, studying with Sylvia Rosenberg, Ida Kavafian, and Daniel Phillips.

Lark plays the 1683 “ex-Gingold” Stradivari violin on generous loan from the Josef Gingold Fund for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $28. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Folk singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer will bring her intimate, introspective performance to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre on Sunday, January 21, at 7 PM. Pianist Gary Walters will join her on stage.

Newcomer is known for interweaving her music with her contemplative Quaker faith. She has shared the stage with artists like Alison Krauss, and has collaborated with influential authors, scientists, and theologians like Parker J. Palmer, Jill Bolte Taylor, Philip Gulley, Scott Russell Sanders, Sandy Sasso, and Barbara Kingsolver. Both a performer and educator, Newcomer speaks and teaches about creativity, vocation, and activism at colleges, conventions, and retreats. She has appeared on programs such as public radio’s On Being with Krista Tippett and PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, where she has discussed her use of creative the arts as a spiritual and mindfulness practice, her work in social and environmental justice, interfaith dialogue, progressive spirituality, and her efforts as a champion for a new political conversation.

In 2009 and 2011 Newcomer was a cultural ambassador to India, invited by the American Embassy of India. In October 2011, she released her interfaith collaborative benefit album, Everything is Everywhere, with world master of the Indian Sarod, Amjad Ali Khan. In June 2012 she traveled to Kenya to perform in schools, hospitals, and spiritual communities. In 2013 Newcomer visited organizations dedicated to nonviolent conflict resolution through the arts and the empowerment of women in the Middle East.

Huffington Post Religion Community listed her song, “Holy as the Day is Spent,” as one of the best spiritual songs of 2012. She was listed as one of “the 50 most influential folk musicians of the past 50 years” by Chicago’s WFMT. Boston’s WBEZ listed her as one of the most influential folk artists of the last 25 years.

The musical artist has written two collections of essays and poetry as companion pieces to her most recent albums: A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays (2016), and The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems and Essays (2014). In 2016 Goshen College awarded her with an honorary degree of bachelor’s of music in social change.

Newcomer’s first theatrical production, Betty’s Diner: The Musical, was produced as part of the Purdue University 2015/2016 theatrical season to rave reviews and a sold-out run. The music for Betty’s Diner: The Musical was written in collaboration with Richard K. Thomas and arranged by Gary Walters.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $40, and are required for attendance.

For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Harmonic jazz ensemble The Four Freshmen will bring their time-honored big band sound to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre on Sunday, January 28, at 2 PM.

Known for their trademark smooth vocals built on the barbershop tradition, The Four Freshmen have enamored listeners worldwide for years, while gaining recognition as one of the most influential vocal groups of all time. Their tight-knit sound has inspired The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, The Mamas & The Papas, Frankie Valli, Take Six, and the Manhattan Transfer. Since their inception in 1948 at Butler University, the Four Freshmen have toured continually across the globe; they have recorded over 45 albums, released 70 top selling singles, and received six Grammy nominations.

Current members of the Four Freshmen include Bob Ferreira on drums, Curtis Calderon on trumpet, Stein Malvey on guitar, and lead vocalist Tommy Boynton on bass. The new group not only preserves the Freshmen sound, they enhance it with their youth, vitality, and talent, giving a new treatment to continue the legacy of the Great American Songbook.

In concert they perform seminal Freshmen classics “Day by Day” and “Blue World,” as well as sharing some of their favorites with new arrangement that include the irresistible force of “Something’s Gotta Give,” the melodious “Skylark,” “Early Autumn,” “September Song,” and “My One and Only Love.” Each member is an accomplished vocalist and musician bringing new influences and perspective to a time-honored musical heritage.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $45. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Award-winning jazz singer-songwriter and America’s Got Talent finalist Mandy Harvey will bring her uplifting music to Smothers Theatre on Tuesday, January 30, at 8 PM.

A deaf performer and motivational speaker, Harvey lost her residual hearing when she was 18. Incorporating American Sign Language into her rich performance, Harvey glides from a “breathy jazz standard to growling blues” that gets the audience up on its feet (Los Angeles Times), and although she can't hear the applause or her own remarkable voice, she continues to find joy in music and inspire all who can listen. Though her hearing loss is profound, Harvey’s timing and pitch are perfect and her passion is tremendous.

Formerly a vocal music education major at Colorado State University, Harvey lost her residual hearing in 2006 due to a neurological disorder that affected her nerves and left the program. She pursued several career options, including education, but returned to music in 2008. She quickly became a regular performer at various venues and has released three albums thus far.

In 2011 Harvey won Very Special Arts’ (VSA) Top Young Soloist Award and lived a personal dream of performing at the Kennedy Center in DC. She continues to perform around the United States and has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Canada AM, The Steve Harvey Show, and the Los Angeles Times, and won fourth place on season 12 of America’s Got Talent.

In addition to performing and speaking, Harvey is currently writing her first book, and helping others to realize their dreams and pursue their hopes. She is an ambassador for both No Barriers USA and Invisible Disabilities Association with a mission to encourage and assist others to break through their personal barriers.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $40. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Classically-trained string trio Time for Three will bring their infectious energy, virtuosity, and showmanship to Smothers Theatre on Wednesday, January 31, at 8 PM.

Comprised of violinist Nicolas (Nick) Kendall, double-bassist Ranaan Meyer, and violinist Charles Yang, Time for Three is a groundbreaking trio that transcends traditional classification, blending elements of the pop, rock, country, western, gypsy, jazz, and classical genres. The members carry a passion for improvisation, composing, and arranging, and perform everything from Bach to Brahms to ingenious mash-ups of hits by the Beatles, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, and more.

Time for Three has performed hundreds of engagements as diverse as its music: from featured guest soloists on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s subscription series, to Club Yoshi’s in San Francisco, to residencies at the Kennedy Center, to Christoph Eschenbach’s birthday concert at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany. Recent highlights included their Carnegie Hall debut, appearances with the Boston Pops, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a sold-out concert at the 2014 BBC Proms, and an appearance on the ABC prime time hit show Dancing with the Stars.

Time for Three’s high-energy performances are free of conventional practices, drawing instead from the members’ differing musical backgrounds. The trio also performs its own arrangements of traditional repertoire, and Meyer provides original compositions to complement the trio’s offerings.

In 2014 Time for Three released their self-titled debut Universal Music Classics album, which spent seven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart. The ensemble has also embarked on major commissioning programs to expand its unique repertoire for symphony orchestras including Concerto 4-3, written by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon, Travels in Time for Three by Chris Brubeck in 2010, co-commissioned by the Boston Pops, the Youngstown Symphony, and eight other orchestras, and Games and Challenges by William Bolcom, commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony. Their latest project, a three-year residency with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, includes commissions for three new works. Time for Three premiered the first of these works, Elevation: Paradise, in Sun Valley in August 2015 and the second, Free Souls, in July 2016.

On March 25, 2016, PBS premiered the Emmy-winning show Time for Three in Concert nationwide. Time for Three in Concert is an hour-long program in collaboration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Universal Music Classics and WFYI Public Media, which brings together diverse artists and unique arrangements to create a one-of-a-kind concert experience.  

The trio is currently recording their sophomore album for Universal Music Classics.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $40. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Over 300 students have been named to the Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences Dean’s List for the Fall 2017 semester.

The purpose of the Dean’s List is to provide recognition for the positive academic achievements of students at Seaver College, and to serve as an additional incentive for academic excellence to all students.

In order to earn Dean’s List honors*, students must be in the upper 10 percent of their class, complete at least 12 letter-graded units during the semester, and their grade point average (GPA) must not be less than 3.500.

The GPA cut offs for the Fall 2017 Dean’s List honors were:

• Freshman: 3.865
• Sophomore: 3.938
• Junior: 3.923
• Senior: 3.942

Congratulations to the following students:

*Please see the Pepperdine Seaver College 2017-2018 Academic Catalog for a full description of requirements to earn Dean’s List honors.

Alexis Smith’s art exhibit Private Lives and Public Affairs will be on display at Pepperdine University's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art through Sunday, April 1.

For over 40 years, Smith has made collages that explore the deeper meanings behind popular culture. She typically begins with an array of images—ranging from thrift store finds to nostalgic advertisements—and juxtaposes them with poetic and poignant texts. Her art underscores the powerful role the media has in shaping our self-image and our lives.

This exhibition focuses on key works from the 1980s, juxtaposed with more recent pieces. The centerpiece is Past Lives, a room-sized installation originally created with poet Amy Gerstler in 1989 that recreates the look and feel of a typical American elementary school classroom.

Enigmatic texts written on the walls read like excerpts from the comments in a report-card or employee review. The empty chairs—representing vastly different periods and styles—remind us of the various past lives that were shaped in school rooms like this. This fascinating and psychically charged work alludes to the complicated feelings—ranging from hope to regret—that emerge in our recollections of childhood.

The elements in her collages are chosen to reflect the quirks of our contemporary psyche. Her art is based on double entendre and is filled with puns and tongue-in-cheek wit. “Out of inanimate objects, I find connections with the real world,” Smith says. “These things create the ether of meaning that people share, though they are not conscious of it. That fascinates me, and that is what I make art out of.”

The collage works in this exhibition, dating from 1976 to the present, were chosen to focus on universal but particularly timely subjects such as truth and media; gender and power; and ambition and success. Mean Streets (1980) and Daily Planet (1986) use references to real and fictitious newspapers to reflect on how “factual” information can be used to distort, misinform, and manipulate. Especially poignant works such as I Married a Monster from Outer Space… (1982), A Girl with Brains Ought To (1983), My Fair Lady (1985), and Peaches (1990) expose how common clichés of everyday language support and reinforce female subservience. Eight Ball (1988), Modernism (2002), and Manly Men Doing Manly Things (2014) remind us that the drive for material success often blinds us to the real pleasures of life.

Alexis Smith: Private Lives and Public Affairs is part of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art’s on-going series of one-person exhibitions focusing on artists who made key contributions to the Los Angeles art scene: Lita Albuquerque: AOR (2006), Charles Arnoldi: Wood (2008), Robert Dowd: Pop Art Money (2009), and Larry Bell: Pacific Red (2017).

Alexis Smith: Private Lives and Public Affairs is curated by Michael Zakian, in cooperation with the Honor Fraser Gallery. Funding was provided by the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation and an anonymous donor.

The Weisman Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 11 AM to 5 PM.

The Pepperdine University Flora L. Thornton Opera Program will present the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance at Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus from Wednesday, February 21, to Saturday, February 24, at 7:30 PM.

The Pirates of Penzance unveils the story of the Pirate King and his apprentice Frederic as they match wits with the Major General and his beautiful daughters.

“It is a great joy, in my 25^th and final year as director of Pepperdine’s Flora Thornton Opera Program, to present Gilbert and Sullivan’s entertainment juggernaut, The Pirates of Penzance,” shares Pepperdine music professor Henry Price. “Two magnificent casts will be swashbuckling their way into your hearts.”

The Orange Cast will perform on Wednesday and Friday, and the Blue Cast will perform on Thursday and Saturday. Visiting music professor Tony Cason will conduct the Pepperdine University Orchestra.

Admission tickets are $20. For additional information about this event, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Beverly Daniel Tatum, clinical psychologist and President Emerita of Spelman College, will present “Why Are All the Black Kids Still Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” as part of the Seaver College W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series at Elkins Auditorium in Malibu on Tuesday, February 6, at 5 PM.

Tatum is widely known for both her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education. The author of several books including the best-selling Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race (now in a new 2017 20^th anniversary edition) and Can We Talk About Race? and Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation (2007), Tatum is a sought-after speaker on the topic of racial identity development, the impact of race in the classroom, strategies for creating inclusive campus environments, and higher education leadership.

Her 13 years as the president of Spelman College (2002 to 2015) were marked by innovation and growth, and her visionary leadership was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award. In 2005 Tatum was awarded the prestigious Brock International Prize in Education for her innovative leadership in the field. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, she is the 2014 recipient of the APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime.

Over the course of her career, she has served as a faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Westfield State University, and Mount Holyoke College. Prior to her 2002 appointment as president of Spelman College, Tatum served as dean and acting president at Mount Holyoke College. In 2017 she was the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at Stanford University.

A civic leader in the Atlanta community, Tatum is engaged in educational initiatives designed to expand educational opportunity for underserved students and their families, as well as to connect communities across lines of difference. She serves on the governing boards of the Westside Future Fund, Achieve Atlanta, and the Woodruff Arts Center. Her national service includes her membership on the boards of Teach for America, Smith College, the Educational Testing Service, and TIAA Charitable.

Tatum holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, both master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, as well as a master’s degree in religious studies from Hartford Seminary.

For additional information about the lecture, visit the Seaver College website.

Pepperdine University resident dance company Dance in Flight will perform at Smothers Theatre in Malibu, from Thursday to Saturday, February 8 to February 10, at 8 PM, with a special matinee performance at 2 PM on Saturday.

Dance in Flight participants come from a variety of dance backgrounds, interests, and fields of study, and are united by their passion for the art of movement, as well as their dedication to presenting an impressive showcase of student artistry.

“This year’s theme, ‘The Power of Imagination,’ progresses from the innate and wildly free imagination we possess as children to how—as we grow older and experience more of the world and life's realities—we knowingly reject or unknowingly leave behind that beautiful, carefree imagination,” explains Dance in Flight director Melinda Marchiano.

“We explore the void where the imagination ‘used to be’ and, ultimately, move toward the idea that, despite our greater experience of ‘reality’ as we age, there is always great potential for imagination within each of us and that imagination can serve us and our world in many, many ways...offering ideas, hope, courage, kindness, and more.”

For over two decades, Dance in Flight has provided an environment for emerging student dancers and choreographers to cultivate creativity, physical expression, and teamwork in a professional performing atmosphere. Through choreography, casting, rehearsals, and collaboration with lighting and costume designers, students develop significant leadership skills that become useful in all aspects of adult life. Performances spotlight Pepperdine students of all majors and backgrounds, and feature a variety of dance principles that include jazz, hip hop, tap, ballet, modern, theatrical, and ballroom.

Ticket prices are $20 for general admission and $10 for Pepperdine students. To purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website. For additional information about the dance company, visit the Dance in Flight website.

Pepperdine University resident dance company Dance in Flight will perform at Smothers Theatre in Malibu, from Thursday to Saturday, February 8 to February 10, at 8 PM, with a special matinee performance at 2 PM on Saturday.

Dance in Flight participants come from a variety of dance backgrounds, interests, and fields of study, and are united by their passion for the art of movement, as well as their dedication to presenting an impressive showcase of student artistry.

“This year’s theme, ‘The Power of Imagination,’ progresses from the innate and wildly free imagination we possess as children to how—as we grow older and experience more of the world and life's realities—we knowingly reject or unknowingly leave behind that beautiful, carefree imagination,” explains Dance in Flight director Melinda Marchiano.

“We explore the void where the imagination ‘used to be’ and, ultimately, move toward the idea that, despite our greater experience of ‘reality’ as we age, there is always great potential for imagination within each of us and that imagination can serve us and our world in many, many ways...offering ideas, hope, courage, kindness, and more.”

For over two decades, Dance in Flight has provided an environment for emerging student dancers and choreographers to cultivate creativity, physical expression, and teamwork in a professional performing atmosphere. Through choreography, casting, rehearsals, and collaboration with lighting and costume designers, students develop significant leadership skills that become useful in all aspects of adult life. Performances spotlight Pepperdine students of all majors and backgrounds, and feature a variety of dance principles that include jazz, hip hop, tap, ballet, modern, theatrical, and ballroom.

Ticket prices are $20 for general admission and $10 for Pepperdine students. To purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website. For additional information about the dance company, visit the Dance in Flight website.

Film and television actor Rainn Wilson visited Pepperdine University’s Malibu campus on February 7 to offer insights into the Baha'i faith, one of the world’s fastest growing yet vastly unexamined religions.

Following a screening of Light to the World, a new documentary about Bahá'u'lláh, the 19^th century founder of the Baha'i faith, Wilson engaged in a question-and-answer session moderated by John Barton, Seaver College religion professor and director of the Center for Faith and Learning.

The actor challenged students to explore their spirituality from an open-minded and inclusive perspective, urging them to examine their purpose in life.

“You’re on a lot of journeys,” Wilson said to the undergraduates in the audience. “You’re on an educational journey, then you’re going to be on your economic journey, [which is] your career path journey. And you have a material journey, too, because you have to make a living and pay rent…but you’re also on a spiritual journey. Even atheists in the room have to decide ‘what is the meaning of all of this?’”

Wilson, who explained that the Baha'i faith views the arts as an act of service, discussed the similarities between his spiritual beliefs and Christianity, noting that both Jesus and Bahá'u'lláh taught their followers about the importance of love and service. In highlighting commonalities between the religions, Wilson expressed that the two main aspects of the Baha'i faith are an intentional and continual effort toward self-improvement, as well as an active role in making the world a better place.

“You have to ask yourselves the big questions that have been asked by the great philosophers since the shamans in the caves of ancient days, and from the poets and the bohemians in coffee shops in the Renaissance,” he shared. “You have to dig into these big questions—that’s part of your journey as well.”

Trumpeter Brandon Ridenour will perform at Raitt Recital Hall in Malibu on Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM, as the first artist of the new year in the 2017-2018 Recital Series. Pianist Peter Dugan will accompany Ridenour on stage.

Ridenour’s program includes George Gershwin’s I Got Fascinating Rhythm; Maurice Ravel’s Piece en forme de Habanera, M. 51; Claude Debussy’s, La Puerta del Vino (Preludes, Book 2), Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Preludes, Book 1), and Minstrels (Preludes, Book 1); Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King; Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56 (No. 1 Stick Dance, No. 2 Sash Dance, No. 3 Standing Still, No. 4 Mountain Horn Song, No. 5 Romanian Polka, and No. 6 Fast Dance); Leonard Bernstein’s Rondo for Lifey; Debussy's Reverie, Footprints in the Snow (Preludes, Book 1), and La Plus que lente; and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Op. 35.

A virtuoso trumpeter and composer, Ridenour’s brilliance and self-assurance on the concert stage led to his victory at the 2014 CAG Victor Elmaleh Competition. Hailed as “a major talent in the making” (Grand Rapids Press), his wide-ranging activities as a soloist and chamber musician, paired with his passion for composing and arranging, are evident in his versatile performances and unique repertoire.

During the 2015-16 season, Ridenour made his Carnegie Hall recital debut at Weill Recital Hall. His other featured recitals include: Northeastern Illinois University’s Jewel Box Series in Chicago; Chamber Music Society of Little Rock; The Regina Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University (NY); and St. Vincent College Concert Series, near Pittsburgh.  

As a concerto soloist, Ridenour appeared with the South Bend Symphony and Modesto Symphony during the 2015-16 season, and was also featured with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its annual performances of Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.At the age of 20, Ridenour became the youngest member ever to join the iconic Canadian Brass, a position he held for seven years. While with the group, he played in distinguished venues around the world, performed on television, recorded 10 albums, and received three Juno Award nominations.

Ridenour has appeared as a concerto soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. He has played with leading ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Other solo performances include the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and Carnegie Hall, where he most recently appeared in a performance of Penny Lane alongside Sting and James Taylor.

Ridenour is the winner of the 2006 International Trumpet Guild solo competition and a recipient of the Morton Gould ASCAP Young Composer Award. He has recorded three solo albums; his latest release is Fantasies and Fairy Tales, which features his own virtuosic arrangements of classical masterworks for trumpet and piano.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s The Academy, Ridenour began playing piano at the age of five under the tutelage of his father, Rich Ridenour, with whom he still performs frequently in recital and with Pops Orchestras.

Performing with Ridenour is pianist Peter Dugan. Prizing versatility as the key to the future of classical music, Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms. He has performed throughout the United States and Canada, and abroad in South America, the Cayman Islands, and across Europe.

A sought-after crossover artist, Dugan has collaborated in duos and trios with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell to Jesse Colin Young and Glenn Close. Dugan’s collaboration with violinist Charles Yang, which the Wall Street Journal called “classical-meets-rockstar duo,” has garnered critical acclaim across the United States. Dugan’s recent chamber music recitals include the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, ARTS San Antonio, St. John’s College Recital Series, and a Weill Hall debut presented by Carnegie Hall.

Dugan advocates the importance of music in the community and at all levels of society. As a founding creator and the pianist for OPERAtion Superpower, a superhero opera for children, Dugan has travelled to dozens of schools in the greater New York area, performing for students and encouraging them to use their talents—their superpowers—for good.

Dugan, a Philadelphia native, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in solo piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio and was awarded the John Erskine Commencement Prize for outstanding artistic and academic achievement. Dugan resides in New York with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, and serves on the piano faculty at the Juilliard School Evening Division and the St. Thomas Choir School. Dugan is a Yamaha Artist.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $28. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Internationally recognized Scottish playwright Davey Anderson has traveled to Malibu to join Seaver College theatre students in developing a compelling production that will premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer.

Anderson, known for his work with the National Theatre of Scotland, is spending a week with 18 students and key theatre department staff. Their time will be spent developing the script of The Abode, Anderson’s new play focusing on the fate of a young American misfit seduced by members of the alt-right group. The play is an attempt to understand how far-right political groups entice and recruit new members, and how their influence on the global stage has come to the fore so rapidly.

“I have a long-held fascination with American culture, so it’s a real pleasure to be part of Pepperdine’s transatlantic collaboration for 2018,” Anderson said. “I have been very much looking forward to this week, as it is such an opportunity for us to explore and develop the script, with creative input coming from everyone involved. Pepperdine Scotland has earned itself an excellent reputation for tackling important contemporary social issues in a compelling way. The Abode is a hard-hitting story that we hope will build on this tradition.”

The University, through its Pepperdine Scotland exchange program, has an outstanding track record of collaborating with renowned Scottish theatre professionals to create award-winning productions. Students covet the chance to be involved in the projects, which allow them to build exceptional experience that can greatly benefit their future careers. This year members of the University’s media production major will be involved as well, creating a documentary about the project.

Cathy Thomas-Grant, divisional dean of the Fine Arts Division at Seaver College and head of the Pepperdine Scotland exchange program, has served as director of the University’s endeavors in Scotland since 2000. In 2016 Thomas-Grant directed Pepperdine Scotland’s Fringe production, The Interference, which won a Scotsman Fringe First and Broadway Baby Bobby Award, and was later staged at the Hollywood Fringe.

“The Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s biggest arts festival, and being part of it is a remarkable experience for our students,” explained Thomas-Grant. “We are privileged to have Davey Anderson on board—it’s a tremendous opportunity for our students to work with a much-admired Scottish playwright and to help create a cutting-edge production that addresses important themes about society in America and worldwide.”

“I am so excited to be working with Davey Anderson on such a significant piece of theatre,” shared Seaver College freshman Christopher Jerabek. “It is rare for undergraduate students to receive such a great opportunity to tackle a global issue like the alt-right and present it to the demographics that need to hear it. I look forward to seeing where this production goes, not just as a work of theatre but as a part of the justice movement it embodies.”

Students will travel to Scotland in July where they will visit the Highlands and learn about the country’s history, languages, and culture. They will also spend time working on the play in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The play will then be staged at the Fringe during the first half of August.

Anderson is a writer, director, and musician whose plays include Snuff, Wired, Rupture, Liar, Blackout, Clutter Keeps Company, Playback, Scavengers, and The Static. His work with the National Theatre of Scotland includes To Begin, Enquirer, Peter Pan, Architecting, Be Near Me, Mixter Maxter, Black Watch, Home, and most recently (as writer and associate director), Anything That Gives Off Light, coproduced with Brooklyn-based group the TEAM, and premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival 2016.

To learn more about this undergraduate theatre program at Seaver College, visit the Pepperdine Scotland website.

Photo credit: Julia Donlon

Tony Award nominee Jarrod Spector will bring his biographical show, Jukebox Life, to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre on Wednesday, March 7, at 8 PM.

Spector is a Broadway veteran, having performed the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys for six years and Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical for three years. His latest project, Jukebox Life, is a high-energy show featuring the songs that have shaped his life.

Utilizing a combination of archival footage, music, and personal anecdotes, Jukebox Life draws from Spector’s album A Little Help From My Friends, recorded live at Manhattan’s 54 Below. Using the songs of Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, and more, Spector traces his life journey, from his humble beginnings in Philadelphia and becoming Junior Champion on Ed McMahon’s Star Search at age six, to auditioning in Los Angeles, to New York and the bright lights of Broadway.

Ticket prices range between $10 and $45. For additional information about the performance, and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for the Arts website.

Pepperdine University will host commencement ceremonies for the School of Public Policy, Graziadio Business School, Seaver College, School of Law, and Graduate School of Education and Psychology on the Malibu campus throughout April and May.

The ceremonies will feature a robust lineup of speakers who will address the graduates as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.

School of Public Policy

Friday, April 20 | 10:30 AM | Alumni Park

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Sally C. Pipes

Sally C. Pipes is president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-based think tank founded in 1979.

Pipes addresses national and international audiences on healthcare and has been interviewed on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, 20/20, Dateline, The Dennis Miller Show, The O’Reilly Factor, The Today Show, and other prominent programs. She was featured in the special one-hour Fox documentary, Live Free or Die in New Hampshire, which focuses on the importance of innovation in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

She writes a biweekly healthcare column, “Piping Up,” for Forbes.com. Her healthcare opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She has published widely on the Affordable Care Act and published her latest book, The Way Out of Obamacare, in January 2016.

Pipes served as one of mayor Rudy Giuliani’s four healthcare advisors in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. She has participated in prominent public forums, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Oversight Committee, Senate HELP Committee, and the California, Maine, and Oregon legislatures. Pipes also participates in key radio shows nationwide, including The Dennis Prager Show, The Jerry Doyle Show, and The Lou Dobbs Show.

She received the Roe Award at the 2004 annual meeting of State Policy Network. In 2005 Human Events named her one of the “Top 10 Women in the Conservative Movement in America.” She was also featured in a new book, Women Who Paved the Way, as one of 35 most outstanding women in business in the nation.

Pipes is the founder and chair of the board of the Benjamin Rush Institute, a Federalist Society-type organization for medical students across America.

More information about the School of Public Policy commencement ceremony

Graziadio Business School

Saturday, April 21 | 10:30 AM | Firestone Fieldhouse

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Mike McCloskey

Mike McCloskey is the cofounder and chief executive officer of Select Milk Producers, one of the largest milk cooperatives in the United States. McCloskey also serves as the chair of the board for Fair Oaks Farms, an agriculturally-based operation in Indiana, which also brands and processes its own gourmet cheese, ice cream, and milk.

He founded the Southwest Cheese Company, where he serves as chair. The largest cheddar cheese plant worldwide, the Southwest Cheese Company is a joint venture between Select Milk Producers, Glanbia Foods, and Dairy Farmers of America. McCloskey is an officer and board member of the National Milk Producers Federation. He is the chair of the Sustainability Initiative of the Innovation Center of US Dairy, and a member of Rework America.

McCloskey attended the University of Mexico, where he earned his doctorate of veterinary medicine in 1976. He later attended the University of California, School of Veterinary Medicine, in Davis, California, where he completed a two-year post-doctoral program in dairy production medicine. He received the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine.

More information about the Graziadio Business School commencement ceremony

Seaver College

Saturday, April 28 | 10:30 AM | Alumni Park

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Gregory J. Boyle

Gregory J. Boyle is the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world.

A native Angeleno, Boyle entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1972 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed pastor of Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. At the time, Dolores Mission was the poorest Catholic parish in the city, located between two large public housing projects with the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angeles. He witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during what he has called “the decade of death” that began in the late 1980s.

By 1988, having buried an ever-growing number of young people killed in gang violence, Boyle, Dolores Mission parishioners, and Boyle Heights community members sought to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth by developing positive opportunities for them, including establishing an alternative school and day care program, and seeking out legitimate employment. They called this initial effort Jobs for a Future.

In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Jobs for a Future and Proyecto Pastoral, a community-organizing project started at Dolores Mission, launched their first social enterprise business in an abandoned bakery that Hollywood producer Ray Stark helped them purchase. They called it Homeboy Bakery. Today, Homeboy Industries employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, and provides critical services to 15,000 men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

An accomplished community leader, Boyle is the author of the New York Times best seller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, which was named one of the Best Books of 2010 by Publishers Weekly and received the PEN Center USA 2011 Creative Nonfiction Award. He is the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary, G-Dog. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014 the White House named Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation, the national culinary arts organization.

Boyle holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Weston School of Theology, and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

More information about the Seaver College commencement ceremony

School of Law

Friday, May 18 | 10:30 AM | Alumni Park

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Kenneth Feinberg

Kenneth Feinberg is an American attorney specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Feinberg was appointed special master of the US government's September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund and served as the special master for the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s Executive Compensation. He most recently served as the government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund.

Feinberg worked for five years as an administrative assistant and chief of staff for US senator Ted Kennedy and as a prosecutor for the US attorney general. Before founding his own firm, The Feinberg Group (now Feinberg Rozen, LLP) in 1993, he was a founding partner at the Washington, DC, office of Kaye Scholer, LLP.

He has served as court-appointed special settlement master in cases such as Agent Orange product liability litigation, asbestos personal injury litigation, and diethylstilbestrol cases. Feinberg was one of three arbitrators who determined the fair market value of the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination and was one of two arbitrators who determined the allocation of legal fees in the Holocaust slave labor litigation. He currently serves as chair of the board of directors for the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Feinberg has taught at Columbia Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, New York University School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law, and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1967 and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law in 1970.

​​More information about the School of Law commencement ceremony

Graduate School of Education and Psychology (Education)

Saturday, May 19 | 10 AM | Alumni Park

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Elise Buik

In March 2005, Elise Buik made history by becoming the first female president and chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA).

After seven years as marketing manager for a medical software company, Buik joined UWGLA in 1994 with a strong belief in the organization and a deep dedication to improving the quality of life in Los Angeles County. Starting in the marketing department, Buik worked her way up through the ranks with long hours and a steadfast commitment to addressing the city’s social and economic challenges.

Buik has been instrumental in transforming UWGLA into a community impact organization that identifies social issues, convenes experts, partners with other organizations, and crafts innovative solutions and policy. Under her leadership, UWGLA launched its strategic 10-year action plan, Creating Pathways Out of Poverty. The plan focuses on three critical issues: ending homelessness by providing housing stability, improving educational achievement, and helping families gain financial stability.

Her other roles include working with the City of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board, a senior fellowship at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, membership on the advisory board of USC Sol Price School of Policy’s planning and development Master of Public Administration program, and the boards of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and Southern California Grantmakers.

Buik was honored with the 2009 Nonprofit CEO of the Year Award from the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Leadership Award at Peace Over Violence’s 37^th annual Humanitarian Awards, and the Nonprofit Leadership and Responsibility Award at the 28^th annual Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs Awards Dinner.

More information about the Graduate School of Education and Psychology commencement ceremony

Graduate School of Education and Psychology (Psychology)

Saturday, May 19 | 2:30 PM | Alumni Park

Honorary Doctorate Recipient: Kay Reified Jamison

Kay Reified Jamison is a psychologist, psychiatrist, and writer. Her work focuses on bipolar disorder, a condition which she has dealt with personally since her early adult years. Jamison is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, as well as an honorary professor of English at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.

As one of the nation’s most popular writers of material examining manic-depressive illness, Jamison has written several books and articles detailing the complexities of, and ways to work through, mental illness. Her writings have helped patients diagnosed with mental illnesses and raised society’s awareness about these issues. She has won numerous awards for her written works.

One of Jamison’s most notable books, An Unquiet Mind, allows patients to read for themselves how destructive it can be for them to not take their medication. The book describes the healing power of structure, psychotherapy, and a social network. It affirms to patients that they are not alone and illustrates that the diagnosis need not have too much of a negative impact on their lives.

Jamison embarked on her study of clinical psychology at UCLA, where she earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She continued on to earn a PhD and later joined the UCLA faculty. Jamison founded and directed UCLA’s Mood Disorders Clinic, a teaching and research facility for outpatient treatment. She went on to the University of Saint Andrews to study zoology and neurophysiology. After many years of teaching at UCLA, Jamison became a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

More information about the Graduate School of Education and Psychology commencement ceremony

Pepperdine Student Activities at Seaver College will present Songfest 2018 at Smothers Theatre in Malibu, from Tuesday, March 13, through Saturday, March 17, at 7:30 PM, with an additional matinee performance on Saturday at 2 PM.

More than 350 students will perform 12-minute sets that feature original songs, choreographed dances, and sketches, as they creatively and artistically express this year’s movie-based theme, “Lights, Camera, Songfest!”

“This year will feature an alumni, staff, and faculty group,” said Alexa Grambush, campus programs coordinator at Pepperdine. “Students in the audience will be able to see their professors, mentors, and coaches singing and dancing with the best of them.”

Prior to the performances, groups are given two weeks to develop unique scripts, costumes, and scenic designs. Each group, consisting mostly of undergraduate students, will compete for the Songfest Sweepstakes Award, presented after the final performance to those with the highest score totals over the course of the performances.

Shows also include student hosts, who will introduce groups and judges, lead the closing awards presentation, and guide the audience through the overall experience.

Started in 1973, Songfest is one of the oldest traditions at Pepperdine University. Over several evenings each spring, groups of students perform original musical stage shows focused on a given theme. Songfest brings hundreds of students together, who build friendships and life-long memories together as they prepare, rehearse, and perform their shows.

Ticket prices range between $15 and $20, and are required for attendance. For additional information about the performances, visit the Center for the Arts website.