Office for Community Belonging: DUNAMIS Series
Pepperdine University is committed to creating an environment that supports the spiritual, scholarly, and professional development of all of its community members. Manifesting and sustaining such an environment requires us to invoke and receive God's power: dunamis.
Throughout the academic year, the Office for Community Belonging, in partnership with Human Resources, will deliver a curated series of professional development workshops focused on its DUNAMIS framework, operationalizing a vision for a diverse community characterized by radical love, critical thinking, and belonging. Each workshop addresses a different topic, including creating inclusive work environments, leveraging our human differences, cross-cultural adaptability, and more. In these sessions you will learn:
- How our Christian mission calls us to value community belonging
- The relevance, benefits, and challenges of diversity in higher education
- To connect more effectively across various cultures and perspectives
- How you can create a sense of belonging in the Pepperdine community
- How to address and remove barriers to community belonging
- To connect through sharing our stories and viewpoints
Please register for the final two modules in the series, What's Your Story? (Malibu, West LA, Calabasas) and Becoming an Upstander (Malibu, West LA, Calabasas), happening April 11 - 16. In these sessions, we will:
- Reflect on the peaks and valleys of our lives that shape who we are;
- Identify the strengths and superpowers we hold that are worth sharing with others;
- Define our personal story while critically considering how to use past experiences as we move forward.
- Identify ways you can advocate for yourself and others in times of need;
- Understand our roles in creating a community of belonging at Pepperdine.
These sessions will be led by Dr. J. Goosby Smith, Pepperdine's Vice President for Community Belonging and Chief Diversity Officer.