The Center for L.I.F.E. (Leading the Integration of Faith and Entrepreneurship) was born in 2018 to create academically rigorous and practically relevant knowledge and experiences at the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship. We began by convening a small but growing community of researchers across universities and students at Miami University. Today, L.I.F.E. has spurred the growth of a new academic subfield in faith and entrepreneurship. We’re creating new opportunities for PhD candidates, researchers, teachers, and students across universities to explore new horizons for innovative research, growing programs, student-focused classes, and faith-informed businesses.
Transforming Higher Education Through Research and Teaching on Faith & Entrepreneurship.
Academically Rigorous. Practically Relevant.
Building the Field of Faith & Entrepreneurship for Higher Education
What makes the Center for L.I.F.E. unique?
We have a strong base doing research at a research university.
We do research, we connect others to research, and we’re at a research institution. This is unique in the faith & entrepreneurship space.
We only do faith and entrepreneurship in higher education.
All three are necessary for us to say yes. Faith. Entrepreneurship. Higher Education.
We’re building a field.
We’re not just building our own thing. We’re here to catalyze a moment, build a field, and leave a lasting, systemic impact in collaboration with our partners.
Why Now?
The historical evolution of faith and entrepreneurship and our vision of the future.
Meeting a Need
Our Goals
Scale Academic Research
Scholars face challenges around including faith as a legitimate research topic. They often feel the need to choose between traditionally secular research topics and those including faith as a key factor, at times questioning the opportunity to publish faith-related research in top journals. Since 2018, L.I.F.E. has worked to challenge that assumption by involving academics around the world in high-quality research, publishing in the field’s elite journals, and bringing scholars together through an annual research conference and Ph.D. seminar on the topic of faith and entrepreneurship research.
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Catalyze a Network of Classroom Teaching
The Center for L.I.F.E. is committed to providing students with experiences inside and outside of the classroom that help them understand the various ways people choose to integrate their faith into their work. We have taught an undergraduate class on integrating faith and entrepreneurship since 2021. In the class, students learn about the variety of ways practitioners across industries and belief systems have integrated their faith into their work through research studies, guest speakers, and practitioner-driven content. We are currently building a network of university professors with whom we are sharing our course content, syllabus, and model in an effort to bring L.I.F.E. to campuses around the world.
LEARN MOREThe John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship at Miami University
The Center for L.I.F.E. is housed in Miami University’s John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. The institute is a distinctive, internationally recognized program emphasizing excellent undergraduate teaching and immersive, real-world learning opportunities in social, startup, and corporate entrepreneurship.
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