Practitioner-Taught Courses
Gain career-related skills & immersive experiences and build your alumni network during Short Term
“Short Term has always been a space in the Bates calendar for innovation, experimentation, and new opportunity.” (Professor Emily Kane, ST Curricular Innovation Project Coordinator, 2014)
Practitioner-Taught Courses (PTCs) offer immersive opportunities for students to experience work and career pathways outside of the core liberal arts curriculum. During Bates’ May Short Term, Practitioners-in-Residence teach applied knowledge and skills in their field of expertise. Students explore worlds of work, add to their practical skill set, and expand their professional network, contributing to their experiential education, career exploration and preparation for future work.
2026 Practitioner-Taught Courses
Practicum in Law with Maine State Assistant Attorney General Paul Suitter ’09
Practicum in Public Health with Leah Elsmore ’12, MPH, Senior Consultant, North Highland, Healthcare & President, Bates College Alumni Association
Mediation and Restorative Justice Practicum with Margaret Micolichek and Jamar Williams teaching Restorative Justice and Karen Groat and Leah Boyd teaching Mediation
Audio Storytelling: Creating audio stories and exhibits with Galen Koch, audio producer and sound artist
Bates-Tuck Business Consulting Essentials with Tuck Business School faculty, hosted by Peter Friedman ’92, P’24, ’26
AND we continue to offer the PW Short Term course Life Architecture with Susan Mangan, PhD for students interested in “architecting” the next stages of their life!
How PTC Application & Enrollment Work
- PTC registration is by instructor permission.
- Students apply online for instructor permission. (Instructor of record for Garnet Gateway listing purposes is Marianne Cowan.)
- **Bates-Tuck Business Consulting Essentials: Priority deadline was Jan 19, but applications are still being accepted here.
- Priority application period for all other PTCs is February 1-16 and decisions are sent upon return from February Break.
- Application forms then remain open for new entries and wait lists. Students will be notified of instructor permission decision upon completion of the application form and accepted students can add the course during Add/Drop starting March 31.
Student or Alumni Questions? email Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92 in the Bates Center for Purposeful Work
“One of the best classes I have ever taken! Expanded my worldview and developed critical skills of analysis and decision-making“ ~2023 Spies, Secret Agents & the Presidency PTC student
“The networking opportunities have better helped me frame my career, and I feel that I have a better understanding of how to approach problems and case studies.”
~2025 Bates-Tuck Business Essentials PTC student
Practitioner Taught Courses meet roughly 11-14 hours per week with the practitioner(s) and guest speakers – in classes, labs, and in the field. Students get hands-on experience, access to a new network of professionals through their practitioner-instructor, and a tangible outcome or product at the end of the course to add value and experience to their career exploration portfolio.
+Past Practitioner-Taught Courses
2025
Tuck Business Essentials with Peter Friedman ’92, P’24, ’26 and Tuck Business School faculty
Practicum in Planetary Health: Protecting Nature for a Healthier Future with Jennifer Rasmussen ’07, RN, MPH
Is That True? Practicum in Media Literacy with Elizabeth Hartfield ’08
Practicum in Music & Health: Using the Arts in Healthcare Settings with Kate Beever
Spies, Secret Agents, and the Presidency with Elly Rostoum ’07
2024
Critical Museum Interpretation & Storytelling Toward Inclusivity, Empathy, and Action with Ashleigh Coren ’07
Two Batesies Teach Business: Practicum in Business and Marketing Strategies with Chuck James ’78 and Ann Clark Tucker ’78
Advocating for the Environment with Susan Inches
The Modern Political Campaign in the Age of AI with Nate Levin ’16
Orthopedic Healthcare Practicum: Practical and Social Complexities of US Healthcare Delivery with John Houde, MD, ’84, P’18
2023
Practicum in Corporate Finance with Karen Wruck P’24
Practicum in Virtual Reality: Design and Fabrication for Virtual Space with David Fogler
Spies, Secret Agents, and the Presidency with Elly Rostoum ’07
Practicum in Law: Attorney General with Peter Brann ’77
2022
Practicum in Mediation and Restorative Justice with Karen Groat and Leah Boyd (Mediation) and Margaret Micolichek and Barbara Egan (Restorative Justice)
Music and Health: Using the arts in healthcare settingswith Kate Beever, music therapist and owner, Maine Music & Health
Writing War: National Security Journalism with Paul Shinkman, national security correspondent for U.S. News & World Report
Digital Marketing: Changing the Art and Science of Marketing (The Evolution of Marketing) with Ashley Hart ’91, Corporate Vice President, Digital Experiences for Microsoft
2019
The Business of The Arts, with professional dancer and performance artist consultant Sara Juli, owner of Surala Consulting
Spies, Secret Agents and the Presidency, with Elly Rostoum ’07, political scientist and former security adviser to the White House and Department of State
Advocating for The Environment (Advocating for Sustainability in Garnet Gateway)
EXDS s15O with Susan Inches, environmental consultant and activist, former deputy director, ME State Planning Office
Apprentice Learning: Building the Japanese Boat
EXDS s15T with boatbuilder, writer and researcher Douglas Brooks
Marketing with Higher Purpose for the Conscious Human, (aka Screw Your Brand!)
EXDS s15V with freelance business and marketing consultant Eugene Kim ’08
2018
Practicum in Private Equity: Corporate Financial Decision Making, From IPOs to LBOs
EXDS s15O, Taught by John Chapman ’82, Partner, Arcade Partners, LLC
Practicum in Science Journalism and Outreach
EXDS s15Q, Taught by Laura Poppick ’10, free-lance science journalist
Practicum in Leadership Development
EXDS s15R, Taught by Alexander Martin ’08, NOLS senior faculty and author, professional explorer
Practicum in Filmmaking, The Creative Process (repeat from 2016)
EXDS s15L, Taught by Wiebke von Carolsfeld, film director, writer and editor
Practicum in Brand Culture Building (repeat from 2016)
EXDS s15K, Taught by Peter Bysshe ’93, Bysshetank
2017
Digital Marketing, led by digital marketing consultant Ashley Hart ’91, Ashley Hart Marketing.
Startup Project Management Bootcamp, led by Serial Entrepreneur John Stadtler.
Mediation & Restorative Justice, led by Elaine Bourne, JD, Barbara Blazej, M.Ed. P’06, and Margaret Micolichek
Healthcare Administration, led by Shannon Banks ’85, Principal, BanksBellwether Strategy & Organizational Development.
The Business of The Arts, led by Sara Juli, dancer and principal of Surala Consulting
2016
Brand Culture Building, led by brand consultant Peter Bysshe ’93, Bysshetank, Hitchcock Partners and MyCounterpane
Consulting for Strategy Development, led by consultant Fisher Qua ’06, advising the Bates Residential Life team on a new peer health program. Using successful consulting techniques you can carry with you anywhere.
Filmmaking, The Creative Process, led by Wiebke von Carolsfeld, writer, director-editor of feature films, including The Saver (2016), STAY (2013) and Marion Bridge (2002)
Journalism in an Age of Media Explosion, led by editor and writer Peter Moore ’78, most recently Editor of MensHealth Magazine, author of many articles and books, with guest speakers from every corner of the industry.
Music Production, Recording, and Mixing, led by producer Jonathan Wyman ’97, This Sounds Good production company.
2015
- Practicum in Entrepreneurship, led by Darrell Williams ’86, founder and CEO of Eighteen Ventures and HealthTech Maine.
- Practicum in Restorative Justice and Mediation, led by: Barbara Blazej P’96, M.Ed., and Margaret Micolichek, M.A, Restorative Practices Collaborative of Maine; and Elaine Bourne, J.D., Community Mediation Services Program of Volunteers of America, Northern New England.
- Practicum in Music Production, Recording and Mixing, taught by Jonathan Wyman ’97, This Sounds Good production company.
- Practicum in Urban Planning, led by Mike Lydon ’04, principal at The Street Plans Collaborative.
- Practicum in Social Change Organizing and Advocacy, led by Craig Saddlemire ’05, Cooperative Organizer for the Raise Op Housing Cooperative and team taught by Sarah Standiford ’97 and Aditi Vaidya ’00.
2014
Digital Innovation, taught by Ben Schippers ’04 and Will Schenk, co-founders of Happy Fun Corp, featuring guest speakers, entrepreneurship talks and computer lab time- Graphic Design, taught by Brandy Gibbs-Riley ’96, principal and owner of Gibbs-Riley Design, featuring field trips to design firms and museums
- Healthcare Administration, taught by Shannon Banks ’85, P’14, senior vice president at Martin’s Point Healthcare, featuring weekly job shadows
- Social Change Organizing and Advocacy (see 2015 listing above)