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Office of Liberal Education

Miami Means Leaders

At Miami, our focus is on you. As one of the top universities for undergraduate education, a Miami degree means:

Leadership through Innovation 

Miami grads are innovative leaders, creative thinkers, and global problem solvers. That’s because we start with great students like you. And, Miami’s amazing teacher-scholars always have you in mind, offering the most cutting edge, transdisciplinary education possible. They support your development as an agile leader in a fast-changing world, connecting the arts with business, the sciences with culture, and engineering with sustainability in ways you can only get at Miami!

Career and Life Focused Classes

Our classes are about you. From your first Signature Inquiry to your final Senior Capstone, all Miami Plan courses embed career readiness and lifelong learning to prepare you for your first job, and most importantly, to thrive in your leadership future. From biotech to digital design, global health to global literature, even your first Miami Plan classes are “real world” and experiential with lifetime takeaways like sustainability, teamwork, and effective communication.

Global Connections

We don’t just train the best business leaders, nurses, artists and engineers: Miami grads tackle the world with confidence. They grow, teach, travel and lead with a global perspective and awareness. Miami is already tops in study-abroad, internships, and experiential learning, and we’re always bringing you even better regional, global, and urban connections and experiences - no matter your interests, passions, or desired career. At Miami, we bring the world to you, and you to the world.

Find Your Miami Plan

Miami students getting help from a teacher in a comuter lab

Miami Plan for Students

Find resources to learn more about your Miami Plan options and courses, browse the list of advisors, submit course petitions, and more.

Author and Miami Alum Wil Haygood teaching a class

Resources for Faculty

Find support resources for faculty about how to propose Miami Plan courses, curriculum changes, the Liberal Education Council, Miami Plan Faculty Fellows, the Innovation Lab, and more.

A Miami advisor helps students with course registration

Resources for Advisors

Information for Academic advisors to help them navigate the options available within each Miami Plan.

Innovation in Teaching with Global Reach

Miami University was founded in 1809 on the belief that a liberal education provides the best possible experience for life in a changing world. “Liberal,” from the Latin liberalis, means “free” - the kind of education that free and democratic citizens should attain.

The Miami Plan enhances specialized studies in any major or professional field and provides contexts for exploring social, academic, political, and professional choices. The MP empowers students to creatively transform the future with the tools to question assumptions, design solutions, exchange views with others, and become better global citizens.

All students entering Miami in Fall 2023 or later participate in the new Miami Plan for Liberal Education.

Below is the latest news from the Office of Liberal Education.

Meet Our Staff

Leighton PetersonLeighton Peterson, Ph.D.

Director
lpeterson@MiamiOH.edu 

Leighton has been at Miami for 19 years. Leighton C. Peterson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Anthropology. A linguistic and visual anthropologist working in the American Southwest, Leighton specializes in Representational Practices, the Anthropology of Media, and Indigenous Language Vitality. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Elizabeth HooverElizabeth Hoover, Ph.D.

Associate Director
hooverea@MiamiOH.edu 

Elizabeth is a Teaching Professor in Musicology and began teaching at Miami in 2012. She serves as the Lead Departmental Advisor for the Department of Music and specializes in music history pedagogy as well as topics on music and screen media. Elizabeth holds an M.A. in Musicology and a Ph.D. in Musicology, both from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dorothy FalkeDorothy Falke

Administrative Assistant
falkeda@MiamiOH.edu 

Dorothy has been at Miami University for 19 years. She enjoys shooting pool, riding motorcycles, reading, cooking, and baking, and has two spoiled rotten cats. She is also continuing her education toward degrees in Accounting and Business Management Technology.

Dorothy loves working with the students, faculty, and staff here at Miami and assisting them with issues concerning the Miami Plan and Liberal Education.