GSEP Cultural Heritage
The Cultural Heritage Page is an inclusive platform where GSEP recognizes and celebrates
the different cultures, causes, ethnicities, genders, heritage, nationality, races,
and religions of our community. In order to acknowledge these community attributes,
we will regularly identify different cultural heritage celebrations represented each
month and enhance our learning about these celebrations through the use of articles,
videos, and websites.
Mission
The Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) is an
innovative learning community where faculty, staff, and students of diverse cultures
and perspectives work
collaboratively to foster academic excellence, social purpose, meaningful service,
and personal fulfillment.
As a graduate school within a Christian university, GSEP endeavors to educate and motivate students to assume leadership roles in professions that improve and enrich the lives of individuals, families, and communities.
At GSEP we embrace human diversity—which we believe to be the natural expression of God's creation—in our work to advance learning and service. GSEP advances, sustains, and advocates for multicultural proficiency.
The strategies for accomplishing this mission are:
- Promoting discourse that values each member's background, experiences, and perspective
- Recruiting, retaining, and advancing diverse students, staff, and faculty
- Developing curricular models for practice in educational and psychological environments; and reaching out to broader communities to promote understanding and facilitate solutions to diversity challenges
Our spirit, energy, and actions will be an inspiration to education and psychology
communities.
Community Highlights
Selected from a diverse group of GSEP professionals who were nominated by their friends, family, and peers, discover how these Waves approach the meaning of diversity and the role they play in redefining how it will have an impact on generations to come. To nominate a GSEP member for this community highlight, please visit this form.
Ashinee Reynolds
She/Her
Founder of Read & Feed Belize
AMFT at Wilshire Valley Therapy Center
Nawal Rashid
She/Her
Aqlama Language Services
Project Manager
GSEP Student
Ramadan
Summer Woods
She/Her
Pepperdine University GSEP & Topp Consulting
Graduate Assistant & Behavior Therapist
GSEP Student
Black Music Month & Juneteenth
Brian Thomas
He/Him
Nominated By Michelle Letendre
Black History
Community Resources
The Homecoming Podcast
Dr. Thema Bryant is a licensed psychologist, ordained minister, and sacred artist. Using artistic expression, spirituality, psychology and culture, Dr. Bryant-Davis is an internationally recognized lecturer, performer, and minister.
The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema is a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself by providing weekly inspiration and health tips. Welcome home!
National African American Read-In
The National African American Read-In (AARI) is a groundbreaking effort to encourage communities to read together, centering African American books and authors.
It was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. This initiative has reached more than 6 million participants around the world.
Black Freedom Struggle
The Black Freedom Struggle is a website focused on Black Freedom, featuring select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.
The intention is to support a wide range of students, as well as independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. – and the fights against it.
Black History Month
A collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Cultural Humility Podcast
Join Dr. Miguel Gallardo, Director of the MA in Clinical Psychology MFT with Latinx Communities program, for the Cultural Humility Podcast.
Pepperdine Allyship Resources
Pepperdine Libraries is pleased to curate book displays throughout the libraries. They complement these displays with virtual bookshelves so their patrons can review the list of books from anywhere in the world. Partnering with the Office of Community Belonging, they're thrilled to share resources on allyship. View the virtual bookshelf here.
National Caribbean American Heritage Month
"Through the commemoration of this month, we hope to ensure that America is reminded that its greatness lies in its diversity, with Caribbean immigrants from founding father Alexander Hamilton, to journalist Malcolm Gladwell, who have shaped the American dream." Learn more here.
Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. Today, Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. Partnering with the Office of Community Belonging, Pepperdine has set up an in-person book display in Payson Library along with a virtual bookshelf to celebrate the holiday. They have also created a Juneteenth guide for further reading. Learn more here.
Loving Day
People around the world observe Loving Day every year on June 12th in meaningful and personal ways. While all are welcome, it can be especially significant for interracial couples, multiracial families, mixed race and transracially adopted people, and those with similar lived experience. Learn more here.
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National Poverty in America Awareness MonthHunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, disabilities, restricted access to participation in the democratic process. Learn more here.
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Martin Luther King Jr., Federal HolidayOn a late summer day in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the National Mall before hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who had gathered to march for freedom, justice, and equality. On that day, Dr. King shared a dream that has continued to inspire a Nation: To bring justice where there is injustice, freedom where there is oppression, peace where there is violence, and opportunity where there is poverty. Learn more here. |
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Making your New Year's Resolution StickBy making your resolutions realistic, there is a greater chance that you will keep them throughout the year, incorporating healthy behavior into your everyday life. Learn more here. |
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Lunar New YearLunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. It is the most important holiday in China, and it is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam, and countries with a significant overseas Chinese population. While the official dates encompassing the holiday vary by culture, those celebrating consider it the time of the year to reunite with immediate and extended family. Learn more here. |
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Global Family DayCelebrated every year on January 1, Global Family Day starts the new year with a positive message of unity to the world. Yes, believe it or not, we are all one! Cultures and religions across the world may be different but, the truth is, all of mankind is a large family that can survive and succeed only if united. And yes, this is a goal that can be achieved — all that is required is spreading the message of peace and unity. Learn more here. |
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International Custom DayInternational Customs Day is celebrated on January 26 every year and was initiated by the World Customs Organization (W.C.O.) in 1983. This day celebrates all the customs officials and agencies that toil day in and day out to ensure effective world trade management. The officials also ensure the smooth functioning of trade operations across international borders and put people at the very center of the transformation process. Learn more here. |
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World Braille DayBraille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font. Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion. Learn more here. |
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International Holocaust Remembrance DayThe United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides. Learn more here. |
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World Religion DayWorld Religion Day takes place each January, aiming to promote understanding and peace between all religions as well as mutual understanding and tolerance between peoples from different backgrounds. Learn more here. |
Contact Us
GSEP Alumni Relations
Pepperdine University
Graduate School of Education and Psychology
6100 Center Drive, 5th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90045