Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning

Marianne Nolan Cowan

mcowan@bates.edu

About

In the Center for Purposeful Work, I counsel students in the process of exploring self, work and potential future pathways, connecting their education and experiences to understand a path toward meaningful work. I am especially interested in the value of the liberal arts as a formation for active and informed humans and contributors to wellbeing, humanity, the planet, and the workforce.
I was a member of the original four-person Purposeful Work Design Team and now manage Purposeful Work’s distinctive curricular programs: Practitioner-Taught Courses, Life Architecture, Purposeful Work Infusion Courses. I also teach a First-Year Seminar, support athletics and co-curricular programming for Purposeful Work co-advise Bobcat Ventures, and am one of the external voices/writers for Purposeful Work at Bates. Prior, I served many years in senior alumni relations and fundraising roles at Bates and supported a public health startup, faculty development, and grant writing at the Jacobs School of Medicine at Buffalo. I am a native Central New Yorker and alumna of the Bates Alpine Ski Team and Bates French Department; I came to Bates to study and ski, and came back 8 years after graduation to continue my career in higher ed administration. I hold a CCSP credential from the National Career Development Association, an M.A. from the University of Buffalo, and a B.A. from Bates. I also serve as the President of the Maine Career Development Association.

A Selection of Relevant Prior Work

• First-Year Seminar, developed and teach: Purpose, Work, and College: A Holistic Introduction to Purposeful Work at Bates. 2023, 2025.
• Resource Developed: Cowan, Marianne. “Project Managing Your Job Search,” Bates Handshake Resource. LINK.
• Workshop Developed and Presented: Bennett, Joyce, Cowan, Marianne. “Collaboration with Faculty Colleagues Workshop: Strategies for Building Career Development Programs with Faculty,” Liberal Arts Career Network (LACN) Professional Development Committee, March 2025.
• Conference Lightning Talk and Poster Presentation: Cowan, Marianne. “The Warp and Weft of Habits of Mind and Intentional Student Experiences,” The Coalition for Transformational Education National Conference, March 2024. LINK.
• Curriculum Design Presentation Developed and Presented: Cowan, Marianne, Delong, Allen, Ngai, Hoi Ning: “Bates Center for Purposeful Work,” AAC&U Curriculum-to-Career Innovations Institute Design Event. September 2022.