GESS compulsory elective

The GESS compulsory elective course allows ETH Zurich, as a university with a technical-scientific focus, to provide a unique choice of educational offerings that supports a comprehensive and modern knowledge transfer. Therefore, the compulsory elective course is also a competitive advantage in comparison with other top-ranking universities at the international level.

Personal development and holistic perspective

All students at ETH Zurich must attend courses within the GESS compulsory elective course at some point during their education. These courses contextualize the knowledge students have accumulated during their training according to social and societal criteria and analyze it critically. Students are familiarized with the mindsets and methodological approaches of other disciplines. This expansion of their mental horizon fosters the personal development of students and enables them to adopt a holistic perspective.

 

For additional information refer to the Strategy Paper GESS Compulsory Elective.

Information for students

The Compulsory Elective courses are offered by the D-GESS Chairs of History, Conflict Research, Literature and Cultural Studies, Economics, Development Cooperation, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Law, Sociology, and Science Studies. Language courses are also offered in cooperation with the Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

The courses that can be accredited for the GESS Compulsory Elective can be found in the ETH Zurich course catalogue.

Further important information on accreditation of courses for the GESS Compulsory Elective can be found under the heading The GESS Compulsory Elective – information for ETH students.