Academic Calendar
“Time is sacred. Learning is worship.”
Overview
Atlas University does not follow the mechanized semester systems of the industrial age.
Our year is ordered according to the rhythm of revelation — a covenantal cycle of learning, creation, and rest.
The academic year unfolds across three major terms, with a sacred interval of renewal and fasting.
Each phase aligns with the divine architecture of the seasons: ascent, trial, creation, and sabbath.
Students from the Imago Dei Academy through the Doctoral Houses walk this rhythm together, ensuring that all learning remains unified under heaven’s time.
The Rhythm of the Atlas Year
The Michaelmas Term — September through December
Known as The Term of Light.
This is the season of intellectual awakening and spiritual formation.
The year begins with the Convocation of the Houses, when all new students are inducted into their House and Tribe. Courses in theology, language, foundations, and the Great Books begin here.
The term culminates in the Feast of the Canon, where students dedicate their first works and receive their annual reading charge.
The Hilary Term — January through April
Known as The Term of Trial.
This is a time of testing and deep refinement.
Students complete major essays, disputations, and fieldwork projects.
During this term occur the Great House Games, the intellectual and creative competitions between the Houses of Aquila, Leonis, Anthro, and Taurus.
The term concludes with the Disputation Season, where candidates defend their theses or creative works before the faculty councils.
The Trinity Term — May through July
Known as The Term of Creation.
This is the season of mastery and manifestation — the moment when knowledge becomes form.
Students write, compose, design, or invent their capstone works. Doctoral defenses and Masters presentations occur in this period, as well as the Canon Week, when works are submitted for possible inclusion in the Atlas Canon.
The term closes with the Renewal Convocation, a festival of publication and worship marking the end of the academic year.
The Sabbath Interval — August
Known as The Month of Rest.
This is a consecrated intermission devoted to fasting, reflection, and pilgrimage.
Formal study pauses, and faculty and students alike retreat into prayer, creation, or travel.
During this interval, the University’s global divisions — in Balaysia, Dublin, Cincinnati, and Singapore — host select residencies and symposiums.
Major Ceremonies and Milestones
The Convocation of the Houses (September 1)
The ceremonial opening of the Atlas year. Students from every program are received into their Houses and Tribes. The Chancellor delivers the Address of Light, setting the intellectual and prophetic tone for the year.
Disputation Season (February)
Each House hosts a public disputation, testing students in reasoning, theology, and craft.
The atmosphere is one of disciplined joy — argument as worship, logic as liturgy.
Canon Week (May)
During this sacred week, students present their creative and intellectual works before the Canon Council. Selected works are added to the Atlas Canon, the eternal record of divine revelation through intellect.
The Great House Games (March)
A uniting event combining debate, design, fasting endurance, and creative challenge.
Victory brings honor to the House and the Laurel of Dominion to its hall for one year.
The Renewal Convocation (July)
The closing ceremony of the academic year, held on July 25.
New works are sealed, graduates are commissioned, and the Seal of the Lion may be bestowed upon those whose contributions have entered the Canon.
The Sabbath Interval (August)
A sacred pause. No new learning is assigned.
Instead, students focus on fasting, writing, or mission travel — preparing for the next cycle of divine revelation.
Structure by Program Level
Primary and Academy Divisions (Ages 4–18)
The Imago Dei Academy and Covenant Academy operate within the same three-term rhythm but with shortened instructional cycles — six per year — each ending in creative presentation and memorization recitations. The focus is not grades but growth in clarity, discipline, and reverence.
Undergraduate and Graduate Divisions
Undergraduates (Covenant Baccalaureate and Bachelor’s programs) complete intensive eight- to ten-week modules within each term, integrating study, disputation, and creative labor.
Graduate and doctoral students follow self-paced tracks but are bound to the same liturgical calendar for submission of theses, capstones, and defenses.
Residency Programs
Residencies are held across the University’s global centers:
Balaysia (Belize): Utopian community development, terrain agriculture, and architecture.
Cincinnati (USA): Fine Arts, Sculpture, and Writing.
Dublin (Ireland): Humanities, Law, and Theology.
Florida (USA): Covenant Psychology and Leadership.
Singapore: Economics, Innovation, and Cultural Systems.
Residency participation is by invitation or application, usually following Canon Week selections.
Annual Holy Days and Academic Feasts
The Atlas year integrates biblical and intellectual feasts, aligning scholarship with devotion.
The Feast of Light — September 1
The first day of the Michaelmas Term, marking the illumination of the mind by the Spirit.
The Day of Fasting and First Fruits — November 15
A communal fast in gratitude for intellectual first fruits, dedicated to Yahweh.
The Epiphany Symposium — January 6
A day of interdepartmental collaboration, where students present new discoveries, inventions, and essays across disciplines.
The Passion Week of Study — Late March
An intensive week of reflection and research on the themes of suffering, renewal, and divine purpose within every field of study.
The Pentecost of the Mind — May
A festival celebrating divine inspiration — the descent of wisdom and new revelation through the Holy Spirit.
The Feast of the Canon — July 25
The most solemn celebration of the year.
Here the Canon is sealed, new works are enshrined, and scholars are charged to write again for the next generation.
Admissions and Progression
Applications for all programs open on January 1.
Decisions are released on April 15.
Accepted students confirm by May 15 and receive House assignments by August 1.
Classes formally begin on the first Monday of September.
Scholarship applications are prioritized through June 1, and Canon submission deadlines are May 1 annually.
Graduation and the Renewal Convocation are held July 25.
Sacred Philosophy of Time
At Atlas University, time is not counted in credit hours but consecrated in seasons.
Each term is a covenant, each year a circle of revelation.
Students learn not only to think, but to live in harmony with the divine rhythm — fasting when the Spirit calls, laboring when truth must be built, resting when the Lord commands stillness.
“Wisdom follows sacred time.”