Manhattan School for Advanced Wizardry
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[edit] Information
Location: Unmappable; Entrance currently located at 18th Street Station
Founded: 1900
History: The Manhattan School for Advanced Wizardry is a relatively new facility, having just recently celebrated its centennial. Until its founding, there was only one other collegiate-level facility in the Northeast: The Weston Academy of Thaumaturgical Practices, founded in Boston soon after the American War for Independence. It was very conservative, with most of its student body being either pure-blooded or half-blooded. Wizards who came from more mundane homes were rarely admitted, and had to pursue schooling elsewhere.
However, in 1893 a Mastigos by the name of Helen Cowden returned to the United States after traveling the world and, having come to the decision that the Weston Academy collectively had much too large a stick up its ass, started the process of founding a school for those of 'lesser' birth. After spending five years planning and gathering like-minded individuals, Helen and her cabal (called the Manhattan Irregulars) created a Pocket Realm that would suit their needs. The Realm was anchored to the island itself, with a moving entrance that required an artifact to locate and pin down. Pleased with their work, the Irregulars took another two years to create the facility itself, then began gathering students. The Irregulars were the first administrative staff of the facility, with Helena as its first president.
The Manhattan Academy for Progressive Magics, as it was called at the time, was still second-fiddle to the Weston Academy for the first forty years or so of its existence. Its fortunes changed, however, after the founding of the United Nations. Struck with a bout of inspiration, an alumna by the name of Eliza Langdon began sending letters to the various wizarding schools around the world. In 1946, the International Wizarding Exchange Program was begun, and the school shot into the international spotlight. This program, combined with its more progressive curriculum and wider student base, moved the Academy to the forefront of magical education in the Northeast, and in the United States as a whole.
In time, The Irregulars either retired from their positions or passed on, and other mages came onto the staff. In 1985, the name of the school changed to the Manhattan School for Advanced Wizardry. Cornelia Bowers, a Mastigos who graduated from the school herself, became president that year and has served as such since.
[edit] Staff
[edit] Administration
President: Cornelia Bowers - Mastigos
Vice President: David Hart - Thyrsus
Dean of Students: Nicole Thompson - Acanthus
[edit] Teachers
At MSAW, students have access to various tutors for the ten separate Arcana. The teachers listed below are all Masters of their respective Arcanum, and are often at least Disciples in their other ruling Arcanum.
Death: Jerome 'Duster' Keating - Moros
Fate: Priscilla 'Calliope' Webber - Acanthus
Forces: Katherine 'Starfire' Archer - Obrimos
Life: Theresa 'Lucie' Harris - Thyrsus
Matter: Stephen 'Elric' Armstrong - Moros
Mind: Samuel 'Morpheus' Rhodes - Mastigos
Prime: Vincent 'Omega' Kincaid - Obrimos
Space: Caroline 'Farpoint' Baines - Mastigos
Spirit: Nathanial 'Umbra' Johnson - Thyrsus
Time: Jessica 'Amrita' Powers - Acanthus
[edit] Curriculum
[edit] Magical Studies
General classes include, but are not limited to:
- Advanced Magical Theory
- Defensive Magics
- History of American Magic
- History of the Dark Arts
- International Affairs
- Magical Runes
- Supernatural Creatures (seminars on various topics, including vampires, werewolves and the like)
A number of classes geared toward particular Arcana are also available:
- Death: The Twilight of the Big Apple; Ghostly Etiquette
- Fate: Oaths and Oath-breakers; Luck: A Lady or A Tramp?
- Forces: Elemental Magics; Arcane Physics; Applications of Magic in Electronics
- Life: Medicine and Magic; Organic Transfiguration; Shaping the Body
- Matter: Advanced Metallurgy; Alchemy; Magic and the Industrial Arts
- Mind: Dreamscapes and the Astral Plane; Perception and Thought
- Prime: Study of Magical Artifacts; Places of Power
- Space: Apparition; Wards and Bans
- Spirit: Spirit Etiquette; Shadow Navigation
- Time: Watching the Flow of Time; Notable Time Paradoxes of the 20th Century
[edit] Mundane Studies
Thanks to a scholarship set up by the Department of Magical Education, students have the opportunity to earn a Bachelor's Degree at any of the mundane universities in New York City. Students are required to take language courses during their entire stay at MSAW. The courses may be taken either on MSAW's campus or at one of the mundane universities; French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek and Latin are offered on campus.
[edit] Housing
Freshmen and sophmores are required to live in one of the two dorms on campus, which are segregated by gender; Cowden Hall (girls) or Barrymore Hall (boys). Each building is five stories tall, with a number of rooms on each floor. Most rooms hold two students; juniors and seniors who stay on campus are given priority for the single rooms.
Juniors and seniors have the option of living off campus if they so choose. The school owns a building in Greenwich Village which acts as an off-campus dorm of sorts. Each apartment is 2B/1B and has a small kitchen attached to a living room/study. They may also rent their own apartment if they wish; the school offers a small stipend to those who do.
[edit] The International Wizarding Exchange Program
The IWEP was the brainchild of Eliza Langdon, an Acanthus who was Dean of Students at MSAW (then the Manhattan Academy for Progressive Magics) from 1935 to 1960. A graduate of the school, Eliza was always annoyed that her alma mater was perpetually in the shadow of the older and more prestigious Weston Academy of Thamaturgical Practices. As she watched the United Nations move from a concept to a reality, though, she was struck with an idea: namely, to create a program where wizards and witches from around the world could come together and experience both the magical and Muggle cultures of other countries.
Although somewhat hesitant at first, wizards from other countries soon came flocking to the halls of the school. Some were older mages who came to touch up on skills that had become rusty after leaving their respective academies. Others were freshly-graduated wizards who wanted to see what exactly the American schooling system can teach them before settling down and going to work in their home countries. Although a great number of countries take part in the program, one foreign academy in particular sends the largest amount of students to the program; this, of course, is the UK's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On average, at least a third of the students in the program hail from the British Isles.
Students who are accepted into the program are enrolled for two years; after that point, students reapply every year. Exchange students are free to choose whatever classes they wish to take, much like the normal students at the university. Most of the students live on campus, although some of the more adventurous students live off-campus with an American witch or wizard who helps to show them the ropes.
