Core Curriculum

Inside the Library

[Effective for students enrolling in the university Fall 2023 and after.]

While each of the components of the revised Miami Global Plan entails specific and measurable outcomes, the overall MGP experience will develop transferable skills in Four Pillars that embody the values and mission of a Miami education. The Four Pillars of the MGP are the anchors of liberal education at Miami.  Each course in the MGP will meet each of the Four Pillars in some way.

The Four Pillars

Civic-Mindedness and Social Engagement

You will understand and articulate how your research and studies relate to the greater social good; you will understand your education not simply as preparation for a better job but preparation for global civic engagement and service to others.

Critical and Integrative Thinking

You will systematically research and explore complex claims, objects, texts, and problems through the development of questions and hypotheses, collection and analysis of evidence, the formation of sound conclusions or judgments, and a habit of self-scrutiny and revision.

Communication and Expression

You have the capacity to communicate research and ideas—and, as applicable, to persuade—with sophistication, force, and clarity, orally, in writing, and through other audio/visual/semiotic means.

Collaboration and Innovation

You will gain experience in collaborative and innovative research, effective teamwork, adaptability, creativity, entrepreneurship, leadership, and technology literacy.

Perspective Areas

These courses broaden your intellectual skills by equipping you to examine issues from the perspectives of different academic disciplines and interdisciplinary departments and to engage with different cultural perspectives. You will be prepared to bring new perspectives to bear on problems addressed in your future professional and civic life.

Global Citizenship

Miami’s liberal education program will include more intensive focus on global inquiry and intercultural consciousness than general education programs at other institutions. You will foster ethical citizenship and an awareness of the histories and sociocultural contexts in which diverse identities and social roles are created, self-reflection, and experience continued intercultural learning by focusing on a deeper understanding of self and others (e.g. biases, norms) in a multilingual and multicultural world, develop skills for human engagement and an openness to diverse cultural values, foster critical thinking about global power relations, international systems, and their consequences (e.g. migration effects, biodiversity, inequities) that stem from different types of forces and processes (e.g. historical, sociocultural, biological, political-economic).

Formal Reasoning and Communication

Execute problem solving, pattern finding, formal reasoning, communication, and advanced writing.

Science and Society

Understand the complex connections of our physical and biological environment, human behavior, and society.

Arts and Humanities

Understand, appreciate, and critically engage creative works and histories of the arts and the diversity of human experience.

Signature Inquiries

These courses encourage faculty and students working in different academic disciplines and interdisciplinary departments to connect with one another in addressing the same urgent needs in today's world that require understanding and solutions.

Sustainability, Resilience, and Change

Courses in this area investigate how resources—whether natural, scientific, technological, ecological, creative, educational, artistic, historic, or sociocultural—have been and can be sustained, engineered, and deployed to meet the needs of current and future generations.

Creativity, Storytelling, and Design

Courses in this area explore how people construct narratives or imagine possibilities, experiences, and worlds (internal or external), as ways to make meaning and identity, gain new perspectives, or devise solutions to problems.

Data, Technology, and Society

Courses in this area investigate the myriad ways in which information, data, and technology impact societies and cultures, including influencing our understanding of “truth” and reality, among other interrelated issues critical to our world.

Global Health and Wellness

Courses in this area explore health as not merely the absence of disease, but as the results of biological, environmental, individual, social, political-economic, or cultural processes that yield and impact physical, mental, or social well-being.

Knowledge in Action

Knowledge in Action (total of 3+ credits) includes experiential learning, internships, service learning, and your senior capstone. Throughout your education, but especially as you approach graduation, you are encouraged to look to the farther horizons of your future in the world. You will participate in experiential learning and, as part of the culmination of your Miami education, a Miami Capstone course. These experiences place a special emphasis on applying knowledge and skills you’ve gained during your time at Miami to settings beyond Miami.

Miami Senior Capstone

In your final year of study, you must take a minimum of three hours in an approved Capstone course, which serves to meld your broad, liberal learning with the specialized knowledge of your major. It could take the form of a workshop, research seminar, individual or group project, or creative work in a studio, laboratory, or field study.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning (0+) takes a variety of forms from internships to civic engagement with the key elements of understanding and employing new ideas and new knowledge from direct experience in a real world or an “out of the traditional classroom” context. Experiential learning opportunities are purposeful and result in either a written reflection or EL based project that highlights these experiences to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify perspectives or values.

Miami Moments Album: Projects and Reflections

Document your Learning

Throughout the course of your Miami Moments experience, there will be a variety of opportunities to create projects and reflections. We call this collection of artifacts, the “Miami Moments Projects and Reflections.” It is your opportunity to build your portfolio and resume as you advance through your Miami coursework and experiences.

  1. Reflection on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    (from Perspective Courses, Curricular and Co-curricular Activities)
  2. Reflection on Study Abroad, Study Away, Internships, and Experiential Learning
    (from Perspective Areas or Knowledge in Action
  3. Reflection on your Signature Inquiries coursework
  4. Miami Senior Capstone project
    (from Knowledge in Action)