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About

Miami Education Abroad / Away offers hundreds of global opportunities for students to earn academic credit during a transformative experience. Students have the opportunity to participate in programs in other parts of the U.S. and in 90 countries around the world. With so many options, nearly every student can find a program that is the right fit for them - and they do! Nearly 2,000 Miami students participate in away/abroad programs each year.

Mission Statement

The Office of Education Abroad, in support of Miami University’s educational mission, strives to empower students to create a more just and equitable world.

Through student-centered advising services, thoughtful management of domestic and international travel programs, and collaboration with units across our campuses, we offer students a diverse array of inclusive educational opportunities that:

  • remove barriers in their journeys of growing their global consciousness and remove barriers that prevent engagement;
  • encourage interpersonal growth and independence, curiosity, empathy, and adaptability to new environments;
  • promise academically rigorous program design with an emphasis on experiential learning; and
  • provide students with necessary 21st-century skills as they embark on careers in an increasingly globally-connected world.

When we are operating according to our highest and best vision, our students recognize their interconnectedness with peoples and places from across the world and maintain a truly cosmopolitan outlook. They can situate themselves within larger and more complex systems and tell the stories of their work in relation to people across disciplines and cultures.

Educational Objectives and Outcomes

In order to fulfil its mission of inclusive intercultural development, academic excellence, thoughtful student-centered advising, and career readiness, the Office of Education Abroad has identified several key Educational Objectives for Miami students who participate in travel learning opportunities:

Global Knowledge and Social Responsibility:

Students can identify the relationship between people affected by global issues and the systems in place that contribute to or solve those intractable problems (as framed, for example, by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals), and will demonstrate personal responsibility to communities at home and abroad.

Learning Outcomes

  • Incorporate their travel learning experiences into the Global Miami Plan’s emphasis on global issues
  • Respond to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in their work at home and abroad
  • Distinguish between their own social identities and the systems that produce people from different cultural backgrounds

Intercultural Attitudes, Awareness, and Behaviors

Reflect on their own intercultural growth and development and use strategies that help them build openness, curiosity, empathy, adaptability, and resilience.

Learning Outcomes

  • Employ strategies that promote understanding and accepting people from different cultural backgrounds
  • Model empathy through sustained engagement with people from diverse backgrounds
  • Cultivate curiosity about different cultures and how other people live and work
  • Demonstrate intercultural communication skills, including language acquisition and attention to nonverbal forms of communication

Independence and Problem-Solving

Use the advising tools and staff available to set clear goals and make independent decisions and solve problems as they navigate the process of applying to and participating in travel learning opportunities.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate resilience and independence by identifying and applying for relevant travel learning options
  • Adapt to local environments by navigating local everyday situations and environments
  • Cope with frustrating and surprising circumstances and situations at home or abroad

Academic Success

Engage in rigorous, experiential learning opportunities necessary to their academic disciplines.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate proficiency and expertise in concepts in major disciplines
  • Apply major expertise through “real world” projects at home and abroad that are evaluated through authentic assessment means

21st-Century Career Readiness

Cultivate leadership, communication, and collaboration skills that enhance their readiness for careers with teams from different cultural backgrounds, and articulate how those skills derive from global experiences.

Learning Outcomes

  • Translate global learning experiences into marketable career skills
  • Illustrate their career readiness by authoring career self-narratives
  • Participate in internships, volunteer opportunities, community-engaged learning, or other “real world” learning experiences
  • Build collaborative relationships with peers and networks of experts across the world
  • Exemplify intercultural leadership with diverse teams

Support Education Abroad

Education abroad scholarships enable students to add a program abroad to their education, helping them develop cross-cultural communication skills, independence, and an expanded worldview. These scholarships help students who otherwise may not be able to travel abroad!

Learn More About Us

Are you a current member of Miami’s faculty, staff, or administration? Learn more about Education Abroad- what we do, where we go, and how you can help students get there! Feel free to reach out to an Education Abroad Advisor via email at educationabroad@MiamiOH.edu, or visit our FAQ pages for Academic Advisors or Faculty. We sincerely appreciate your ongoing support of Education Abroad and your help in giving our students an incredible international experience.