{"id":1851,"date":"2025-08-22T12:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T16:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/center-inclusive-teaching-learning\/?page_id=1851"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:29:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:29:46","slug":"cowan-marianne-nolan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/center-inclusive-teaching-learning\/about-staff-educators\/cowan-marianne-nolan\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowan, Marianne Nolan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Marianne Nolan Cowan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Sr. Associate Director, Exploration and Curricular Design, Center for Purposeful Work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associations<\/strong>
Center for Purposeful Work, First-Year Seminar Instructor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chase Hall, Purposeful Work Suite<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

mcowan@bates.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Selection of Relevant Prior Work<\/h5>\n\n\n\n