Heidelberg
Program Staff
Eyal Pinkas
Manager of Operations and Student Care
Instructor of Humanities and Fine Arts
Faculty-in-Residence 2025-2026
Dr. John Struloeff
Professor of Creative Writing and English
Director of Creative Writing
John Struloeff is the director of the Creative Writing Program at Seaver College, where he has been a professor since Fall 2007. He is a widely published poet and fiction writer, with work in The Atlantic, The Sun, Western Humanities Review, The Literary Review, The American Journal of Poetry, and dozens of other magazines and journals, and from 2020-2021, he served as the City of Malibu’s Poet Laureate. John’s most recent book is a collection of biographical poems, The Work of a Genius, about the life and work of Albert Einstein, inspired by research he conducted in Germany, Switzerland, Prague (Charles University), and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He loves to travel and study history and visit the places that have inspired literary work. During the 2017-18 academic year, he was the Visiting Faculty for IP in Lausanne, Switzerland — a profound and inspiring experience for him — and is excited to return to Europe to join a new group of students in Heidelberg.
Faculty-in-Residence 2026-2027
Gretchen Batcheller
gretchen.batcheller@pepperdine.edu
Professor of Studio Art - Painting & Drawing
Gretchen Batcheller is a Blanche E. Seaver Professor of Studio Art and teaches a wide range of courses in painting and drawing at Seaver College. This coming academic year will be her 13th year at Pepperdine University. As an undergraduate, she studied for two years in Dresden, Germany, and as a graduate student she studied for one year in Rome, Italy. She has previously served as Faculty-in-Residence in Heidelberg (AY 2018–2019), in Florence (summer 2015 and 2019), and in Lausanne, Switzerland (spring 2023). Her art courses are designed to take full advantage of the city’s landscape, architecture, and cultural resources, offering students a deeper, more immersive connection to Heidelberg. Gretchen teaches students at all levels and is known for creating a welcoming, encouraging environment—helping even the most nervous beginners feel confident and successful in making art. She is fluent in German and also speaks great "restaurant" Italian and French. She will be accompanied by her family—Gus Peterson, her husband; her daughter, Winefred (10); and her son, Orrin (7). Gretchen and her family are excited to grow, explore, and share in this new adventure with you all!