Switzerland
Program Staff
Ezra Plank, Ph.D. (American)
Director of the Switzerland Program
Ezra Plank has served as the Director of the Switzerland Program and Professor of Religion since 2014. His completed his undergraduate work at Pepperdine University, during which he studied abroad at the program in Heidelberg, Germany. After graduation, he served as a Resident Director and member of the Emergency Response Team at Pepperdine. Later he completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Religious Studies at The University of Iowa, with his research focusing on the impact of religious ideas on family relations, domestic routines, and the use of the home for devotional activities. He has published book chapters and presented papers at the American Historical Association conference and the Sixteenth Century Society conference. His interest in the impact of study abroad on university students was fueled by his voyage around the world with Semester at Sea, and he feels very fortunate to be serving in the current role with his alma mater. He is a father, avid outdoorsman and mountaineer, and enthusiast of live music.
Sophie Peeters (French/American)
Executive Assistant & Coordinator of Academics
Sophie originally hails from Williamsburg, Virginia, but has lived abroad for seven years. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 2016, Sophie moved to Rome, Italy, and began working as a Communications Officer for the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, where she helped coordinate Embassy programs and initiatives. She later joined the Vatican’s communications section, where she assisted in developing global messaging for the Holy See. Sophie also speaks French, Italian, and little bit of German, and loves learning about new cultures and experiences. She is thrilled to be part of the Pepperdine Switzerland team and can’t wait to meet everyone!
Anaïs Perez (Swiss/Spanish)
Coordinator of Student Life
Anaïs was born in Switzerland and grew up in a Swiss-Hispanic family. The cultural diversity in her upbringing shaped her open-mindedness and curiosity about the world around her. Her professional journey led her to explore her passion for languages and education. She worked in the language immersion industry, where she contributed to facilitating transformative journeys for many students seeking intercultural learning. Following this experience, she joined EHL Hospitality Business School, where she handled international admissions and managed a team of 150 to 180 students for over 4 years.
Anaïs is excited to share her passion for travel and her in-depth knowledge of the region with students at Pepperdine University. Her experiences in both the language immersion industry and her time at EHL Hospitality Business School have equipped her with a unique skill set and a deep appreciation for the transformative power of education and intercultural experiences. She looks forward to inspiring and guiding Pepperdine students on their own journeys of discovery and personal growth.
Rafael Zulian (Brazilian)
Program Assistant
With over 15 years of experience in hospitality management, Rafael made a transformative shift from a successful 5-year tenure as a guest services manager to discovering a newfound passion for education in Switzerland. Armed with a master's degree in hospitality management and a postgraduate qualification in higher education, Rafael is thrilled to channel his extensive expertise into his role as a Program Assistant at Pepperdine.
Rooted in a commitment to creating a meaningful impact on students' lives, Rafael brings a distinctive blend of hands-on knowledge and academic insight to the Pepperdine community. His dedication to fostering holistic growth aims to guide students toward success.
As a Program Assistant at Pepperdine Switzerland, Rafael eagerly anticipates inspiring positive change and facilitating transformative learning experiences.
Faculty-in-Residence 2024-2025
Fall 2024
Donna Nofziger
donna.nofziger.plank@pepperdine.edu
Professor of Biology
Natural Science Division
Donna Nofziger is a Professor of Biology at Seaver College and teaches classes in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology. She is a Los Angeles native who earned her undergraduate degree in biology at Baylor University and her PhD from UCLA as part of the Molecular Biology Institute. She has loved every moment of her 25 years teaching at Pepperdine and in particular enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for learning about the natural world with her students. She has served International Programs on multiple occasions in Buenos Aires, Kenya, and Fiji. One of her daughters spent a year in Switzerland as part of Pepperdine’s International Program, and after visiting her there, Dr. Nofziger knew that she had to return as visiting faculty. She believes very strongly in the mission of Pepperdine’s international programs and has seen first hand how transformative this experience can be for her students (and herself). She is excited for cheese and chocolate-induced food comas - AND for creating memories exploring the beauty of Switzerland with the students.
Spring 2025
Ame Cividanes
Visiting Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
International Studies and Languages Division
Dr. Ame Cividanes is a Professor of Teaching of Hispanic Studies. She received her PhD in Contemporary Spanish Literature from Florida State University and has a secondary specialization in Curriculum Development and Second Language Acquisition. Professor Cividanes returned to Pepperdine in 2021 (she taught Spanish at Pepperdine from 1997-2000 and directed our Buenos Aires summer program). Prior to her return to Pepperdine, Dr. Cividanes was the Director of the Spanish and Portuguese Language Program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and has taught all levels of Spanish language, literature, and culture. Dr. Cividanes’ commitment to fomenting interculturality at the university level has been a personal and professional passion, and she has over 20 years of experience leading intensive language and culture programs in both Latin America and Europe. Dr. Cividanes lives in Calabasas with her husband and son who is a student at UChicago. Her family enjoys traveling and winter sports such as skiing. She is looking forward to meeting all of the Vevey students and experiencing the joys of learning about a new culture with them.
Faculty-in-Residence 2025-2026
Helen Irene Holmlund
Assistant Professor of Biology
Natural Science, Seaver College
Dr. Helen Holmlund is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Pepperdine University. She earned her B.S. in Biology at Oklahoma Christian University and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During her graduate work, she also spent a year training at the Australian National University. Her research in the field of plant physiological ecology explores how plants can survive drought, fire, and salinity. In particular, Dr. Holmlund is fascinated with ferns (which typically require abundant water) and how some ferns have adapted to thrive in dry ecosystems, such as the Santa Monica Mountains surrounding Pepperdine. Her research on these “extreme” ferns has also taken her to the Channel Islands, the mangrove swamps of Australia, and the tropical rainforests in Costa Rica. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Southern California Research Learning Center. Dr. Holmlund has received several fellowships and conference awards, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Billings Award for her undergraduate research presented at the Ecological Society of America.
As an undergraduate student, Dr. Holmlund first experienced biological research by participating in Pepperdine’s SURB program (Summer Undergraduate Research in Biology). After this experience, she became committed to facilitating undergraduate research. Dr. Holmlund has been mentoring undergraduate research students since 2014, and many of these students have been co-authors on peer-reviewed journal articles and presented their research at national conferences.