Attracted by an original approach to helping students find work that delivers deep personal meaning and the promise of professional success, media outlets are telling the compelling story of the Purposeful Work program at Bates.
Purposeful Work in the News
Learn more about the Purposeful Work program at Bates.
- Purpose & Character in Higher Education with Nathan Hatch, Robert Franklin, Jr., and Clayton Spencer
“Virtues & Vocations” Forum, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University - Education, Meaningful Work & the COVID-19 Unemployment Challenge
New World of Work, Learnit - Finding Purpose
The Mary Christie Quarterly - Purposeful Work Case Study in “Uncharted Territory: A Guide to Reimagining Higher Education”
Stanford 2025 Project, Stanford d.school - The college-career sequence in reverse
WGBH, On Campus Radio - The thing that turns a liberal arts education into a meaningful job
Quartz - How one small college helps its students find “purposeful work”
Education Dive - Purpose as Well as Paycheck
Inside Higher Ed - What’s the Purpose of College?
Forbes - Bates College, Gallup report: Grads want ‘purposeful’ work
Lewiston Sun Journal - How Colleges Help Students Find Purpose in Their Work
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Washington Post Live – Transformers: Education 360°
President Clayton Spencer joined former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and now U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., and Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University, for a discussion about innovation in education. - Liberal arts watch: Colleges appeal to students with ‘purposeful work’
The Christian Science Monitor - One college finally designed a liberal arts education fit for the future of work
Quartz - At Bates College, New Focus On ‘Purposeful Work’
WGBH
- Bates College prepares students for work that fits their skills and interests
Mainebiz - Purposeful Work on Maine Public Radio’s Maine Calling
A live, interactive radio broadcast from the Edmund S. Muskie Archives at Bates College
Additional Purposeful Work Coverage
- Speech by President Clayton Spencer at the 187th Convocation of Bishop’s University
- When legal nonprofit needs French language interpreters, Bates students step in
French and francophone studies majors volunteer to interpret during asylum seekers’ meetings with their potential lawyers, in a partnership that has only grown. - A tuna tournament helps Michaela Pinette ’19 get in tune with purposeful work
Michaela Pinette ’19 wasn’t expecting a summer of sifting through bloody tuna parts for science, nor enjoying it so much. That’s the beauty of Purposeful Work. - In labs, startups, and city streets, Bates students learn the meaning of their own work
In museums, labs, and cities; in San Francisco, Shenzhen, and Lewiston, Bates-funded summer experiences help students explore their interests and discover what’s purposeful to them. - Advising Grads to ‘Follow Your Passion’ is Bunk. Here’s Why
- Q&A: Students Click with Digital Marketing Consultant Ashley Hart ’91 in her Practitioner-Taught Course
- Q&A: Bates psychologist Rebecca Fraser-Thill on drawing a blueprint for your future
- Purposeful Work Unplugged: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins
- Bates Magazine cover feature on Purposeful Work.
- Some Thoughts on Work: Remarks at Convocation 2013 by President Clayton Spencer
Are you looking for a meaningful experience?
Getting involved with Purposeful Work at Bates is simple. Sign up for one of our mailing lists, or contact us directly at:
Bates Center for Purposeful Work 146 Wood Street Lewiston, ME 04240 1-207-786-6232 purposefulwork@bates.edu |
Media Inquiries Bates Communications Office 1-207-786-6330 communications@bates.edu |
Learn more about Purposeful Work
Sign up to learn more on how you could can get involved with Purposeful Work during your time at Bates.