Undergraduate students can now study artificial intelligence at Pepperdine University.
Starting in the fall of 2026, students will have the opportunity to sign up for the
new AI skills class, which is open to undergraduates of all majors and minors through
the University’s Core curriculum.
“The goal of this course is to get our students thinking critically about AI,” said
Ben Postlethwaite (‘96), a professor of organizational behavior and management at
Seaver College and the leader of the new AI skills course. “We want to help our undergraduates enhance
their skills as AI practitioners, while also leading them to understand the societal
implications of the new technology.”
Postlethwaite explained that the new AI skills course was created, in part, to prepare
students for their careers in this emerging age of artificial intelligence. In many
industries, the ability to successfully wield different forms of the expanding technology
is becoming a necessity for skilled workers. As a result, Postlethwaite created a
course to enhance their abilities within a framework of ethical applications that
benefit humanity.
Pepperdine’s new Core offering will not revolve solely around large language models
such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, or Claude. Rather, students will be asked to engage
with a variety of AI tools throughout the curriculum. By understanding the technology’s
capabilities over an array of formats, students will gain the ability to adapt across
interfaces and discern quality outputs from less authoritative ones.
“AI is going to play a huge role in everyone’s lives going forward,” said Thomas Brunt,
a Seaver College student majoring in public relations. “To have a class that will
help me understand how to use this new technology properly will be an incredible addition
to my education. I want a trusted mentor who can help me sharpen that AI tool.”
Overall, Postlethwaite hopes that the AI skills course provides students with an understanding
of when and how to use AI responsibly and effectively. In introducing this topic through
the classroom, he believes that Seaver College is empowering undergraduates to make
an immediate impact in their chosen vocation.
“For recent college graduates, there is an ongoing cultural discussion about the types
of entry-level jobs that will be replaced by AI,” said Postlethwaite. “Many of the
jobs that will have staying power will ask potential candidates to actively use AI.
At Seaver College, we’re equipping our students—of all majors and disciplines—with
an AI toolkit they can use.”
Seaver College’s Core curriculum is designed to incorporate new and emerging topics of importance, like AI. This
curricular flexibility allows Seaver College to cultivate a relevant and dynamic learning
environment that will aid students in their pursuit of purpose.
“When designing the Seaver Core curriculum, we recognized a gap between traditional
academic disciplines and the skills students may need beyond graduation—financial
literacy, career readiness, relationship cultivation, and more,” said Paul Begin,
Seaver College’s interim senior associate dean and one of the chief architects behind
the new Core curriculum. “With that in mind, the Skills portion was purpose-built
for incubating classes that would be truly meaningful: a space to experiment, meet
the moment, and respond to emerging needs.”