- Universidad de la Libertad, based in Mexico City, is founded by Ricardo Salinas and built in collaboration with Minerva Project
- Curriculum will be interdisciplinary, combining active and experiential learning, and allowing maximum flexibility for multi-generational learners
- A business degree will be offered in Fall 2023 with lifelong learning opportunities to follow
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A new, innovative university, Universidad de la Libertad (“UL”), is launching in Mexico City in partnership with Minerva Project, the Silicon Valley-based education innovator that built Minerva University. Unlike traditional institutions, UL will have a multi-generational learning campus that will integrate interdisciplinary curricula with active learning pedagogies and provide a highly personalized approach to education. UL is founded by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a group of dynamic, fast growing and technologically advanced companies effectively competing in the retail, financial, telecommunications and media sectors. It will launch its undergraduate business program in Fall 2023, to be complemented by professional learning opportunities in the future.
The business curriculum focuses on entrepreneurship and will include Minerva designed general education courses, which impart critical, durable skills highly demanded by employers. First-year courses will include creative and critical thinking, as well as expressive and communication clarity. A “smart skills” course, aimed at teaching students competencies like time management and effective study habits, will also be incorporated into the curriculum.
Students will take classes both on the UL campus and Minerva’s virtual learning environment, Forum, providing flexibility and choice. In addition, students can complete a degree in business development or a set of certificates over a long period of time.
“When so many young people in higher education cannot wait to leave, then it means your higher education system is broken. In my perspective, if you are in a learning environment, you should not want to get out,” said Ricardo Salinas. “Universidad de la Libertad, through its partnership with Minerva, will offer a superior education which will impart durable skills that our young people will need in the workforce and in their communities. And they will have the opportunity to come back over their lifetime to continue that education.”
Minerva Project’s expertise in building quality defining universities spans more than a decade, starting with Minerva University, launched in 2013, and recently ranked by World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) as the most innovative university in the world.
Since then, Minerva has helped build specialized institutions like the Korean Institute of Energy Technology (Kentech), an energy engineering university in Korea. It helped transform traditional universities, like Zayed University in the UAE, into the first interdisciplinary college in the Middle East. Minerva Project also partnered with University of Miami to create a redefined, interdisciplinary degree program in Innovation, Technology and Design.
“Universidad de la Libertad is an innovative concept in education, and we are delighted to partner with them,” said Ben Nelson, Founder and CEO of Minerva Project. “Minerva’s expertise in higher education institution building is now widely recognized as we have helped institutions in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East transform or launch their universities. Minerva’s partnership with UL is the first of many in Mexico and Latin America.”
Minerva Project will provide support for development of the interdisciplinary curriculum that integrates active and experiential learning, skills-based assessment, and faculty training. Its methodology is based on decades of research in the science of learning, implementing its proprietary cross disciplinary curriculum and Fully Active Learning pedagogy, utilizing Forum, the world’s foremost synchronous digital learning environment combined with integrated, place-based experiential learning. These programs, which are focused on systematically teaching and measuring the most important skills and knowledge for the 21st century, create transformative educational outcomes for students.
On launching this partnership, Jorge Diaz Cuervo, President of Universidad de la Libertad, stated, “We can offer students flexibility coupled with a quality education, thanks to our partnership with Minerva Project. With them, we were able to accelerate the launch of the UL, offering a skills-based education to our students. Moreover, we will not measure success in conventional ways, but rather in how the program will contribute to societal progress and individual economic advancement.”
To learn more about Universidad de la Libertad, visit https://ulibertad.edu.mx
About Universidad de la Libertad
Universidad de la Libertad is a business development and innovation university in Mexico City, opening its doors to the founding generation of students in September 2023. UL is part of Grupo Salinas, one of Latin America’s most important business groups—founded and led by Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego— with companies focused on creating inclusive prosperity, through economic value, by means of market innovation and goods and services that improve standards of living; social value that enhances community wellbeing; and environmental value by reducing the negative impact of its business activities.
About Minerva Project
Minerva Project is a pathbreaking educational innovator, designing and delivering exceptional educational programs through educational and corporate partners globally. Minerva Project is the strategic innovation partner both to institutions looking to create new, transformational programs as well as powering the launch of start-up universities. Partners include University of Miami, USC, Berkeley, Zayed University, Esade, Kentech, and Universidad de la Libertad.
Founded by Ben Nelson in 2011, Minerva’s mission is to nurture critical wisdom for the sake of the world. Minerva helps partners meet the needs of modern learners, by combining a Fully Active learning pedagogy, a unique skills-based curriculum, and Minerva’s hybrid learning Forum platform. Its groundbreaking creation of Minerva University is detailed in the book Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education (MIT Press).
For additional information about Minerva Project, visit www.minervaproject.com
For media queries, contact:
Minerva Project
Diana El-Azar
[email protected]
SOURCE Minerva Project
Originally published at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-innovative-university-in-mexico-universidad-de-la-libertad-launches-in-partnership-with-minerva-project-301757571.html
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