About GSiK

Globalization and internationalization have culturally pluralized our living environment. Our actions and our behavior show massive effects on our ecological, but also on the social and economic systems of our world.

The goal of education for sustainable development is to overcome or at least contain social and economic problems, that go hand in hand with the ecological-existential crisis. A competent handling of strangeness, ambiguity and complexity is of particular importance in today's professional and everyday life.

Intercultural competence and a responsible and informed attitude towards sustainability issues are therefore core competencies of the 21st century!

Intercultural competence cannot be learned in a weekend training! The field of sustainability is complex and far-reaching.

GSiK therefore offers a program of over 100 events each semester in the form of seminars, workshops, lectures, conferences and more. All events are open to students of all majors and degrees, from the first BA semester to doctoral studies.

No central enrolment is necessary for the program, some individual events occasionally require enrolment (e.g. via the seminar enrolment on WueStudy). Participation is recorded via attendance lists in the courses.

Both areas, sustainability and interculturality, are among the key problems of our epoch. Accordingly, the resulting questions are being researched in many different disciplines, each with its own methods, perspectives, and patterns of interpretation.

The GSiK program takes this necessary interdisciplinarity into account in a unique way: GSiK cooperates with many partner institutions within and outside JMU and is a pioneer in Germany in the subject of diversity. From law to medicine to computer science, from cultural and human sciences to social and natural sciences, the program unites the collected disciplinary diversity of our university.

This interdisciplinary approach to the GSiK topics allows you to take a look beyond your own professional horizons.

You can freely choose from the events of the GSiK program. If you meet certain requirements, we will issue you a certificate for your participation!

We offer a certificate for the area of "Intercultural Competence" and a certificate for the area of "Sustainability and Global Responsibility" in two successive levels. Our website provides information about the conditions of the respective certificate acquisition.

Some GSiK seminars can be credited to your degree program at the same time. Other events can be attended "on top" out of interest. However, the interdisciplinarity of your educational path is particularly important to us, which is why attendance of at least one course outside your field of study is mandatory for all certificates.