Atlas
Introduction & Overview
Atlas is an optional School of Arts and Sciences program that supports students as they clarify the purpose, meaning, and direction of their curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular pursuits and explore career possibilities related to those decisions. Its primary goals are:
- To facilitate students as they reflect on experiences, develop goals, and make connections between what they have already accomplished and what they hope to accomplish;
- To aid each student in the creation of an online space in which they can showcase their accomplishments and illustrate the correlations they are making between their various experiences;
- To encourage professional practices in networking and social media use by students;
- To connect students with campus resources and with professionals in the student’s field of interest.
Program Director
Lisa Rafanelli, 914.323.7182, lisa.rafanelli@mville.edu
Program Structure
Atlas is comprised of multiple classes. Students may take as many of the courses as they wish.
Passport (MVL 1001, 3 credits)
The purpose of this First-Year course is to guide new Manhattanville students in making a successful transition to the College, academically and socially. The course is designed to foster a sense of belonging to the community by working in small groups, sharing valuable information about the College’s mission and history, incorporating valuable skill-building, and helping students continue to clarify the purpose, meaning, and direction of their college careers. This course is also open to transfer students.
Career and Professional Development (MVL 2001, 1 credit)
This course will focus on three main areas, (i) academic planning, (ii) career exploration, (iii) financial literacy. Course content rages from students clarifying the purpose, meaning, and direction of their college careers, explore career possibilities, getting introduced with CCD personnel, time management, and skills to manage personal finance to reduce personal risk. End of the semester students are expected to develop skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will enable them to achieve in the College, at work, and cross the life span.
Atlas: Study Abroad (MVL 2005, 1 credit)
This one-credit Atlas class engages students studying abroad to become reflective learners. ePortfolio assignments encourage observation, awareness, and insight. It also allows them to create a travelogue of their academic, social, and travel experiences abroad. It also creates a cohort of Manhattanville students dispersed at various locations so they can share their experiences with each other as well as their academic advisors.
Intercultural Awareness (MVL 2010, 1 credit)
Training in intercultural competency is a lifelong process; this course will begin a journey into cultural awareness by challenging stereotypes and increasing your knowledge of human rights and multiculturalism both in theory and practice.
High-Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation (MVL 2015, 1 credit)
The course is designed to prepare students to become inclusive leaders for a global community. Students will learn how to collaborate as a team and use social influences to negotiate. Students will deepen their understanding of the benefits of diversity. Students will learn the theoretical and practical foundations of leadership and teamwork, including listening, feedback, collaboration, negotiation, implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and micro-affirmations. Using ePortfolio pedagogy students will strengthen self-awareness, develop communication skills, understand empathy, and improve the ability to give others a sense of belonging.
Compass (MVL 3001, 3 credits)
This ePortfolio-based course is designed to aid students in reflection on co-curricular experiences, with the goal of translating and documenting leadership and team-building skills, showcasing creative work highlighting unique experiences, and relating these experiences to desirable career skill sets. Reflection on the self-discovery process , interaction with professionals in possible career paths, and archiving of materials found and created will be facilitated by the instructor. The intent of this course is for students to be able to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to practical, real-world situations.
Pursuit (MVL 3010, 3 credits)
Designed for seniors, Pursuit is geared toward creating an external-facing ePortfolio and on professional networking. Students identify or affirm a career path and mine their experiences in and out of the classroom for skills, knowledge and mindsets. The focus is on the “translation” of students’ learning stories into the language of employers; résumé and cover letter preparation, and informational and mock interviews are part of the class experience.
Atlas: 4th Credit Option (MVL 4500, 1 credit)
The 4th credit option provides a unique opportunity for students to integrate theory from their classes and praxis through participation in community organizations or programs for the purpose of social justice engagement and exploration. An experiential 4th credit can be attached to any academic course for which a student finds an appropriate community placement. The ePortfolio allows the collaborating faculty member and the director of Service Learning to read and comment on the student’s weekly journal and final project in real time.
Atlas: Internship (MVL 4497, 1-3 credits)
This course allows students to take internships outside their major/ minor. In this course, students engage in self-reflection and workplace skill enhancement, including workplace ethics, working with teams, academic success, and leadership development. The CCD and the Director of the Atlas Program may help students identify a code for the internship course.