General Studies Certificates

Concept

The mostly thematically oriented General Studies Certificates offer students the opportunity to acquire an additional interdisciplinary qualification at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). This initiative takes into account both the frequently demanded interlocking of specialized technical education and general education and the approach of enabling skills. Thus, the General Studies Certificates serve to expand interdisciplinarity in studies and to improve career prospects.

The certificates are a content-based profiling of interdisciplinary courses and offer all students new opportunities to expand their competencies on a voluntary basis with a clear requirement profile and a verifiable qualification.

With a view to the technical profile of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the area-specific courses offered at FORUM focus on key interdisciplinary topics. As a job-related qualification, they offer a connectable interdisciplinary supplement for most technical disciplines. In addition to the area-specific certificates, the Certificate General Studies Elective offers the opportunity to achieve a certificate for a Liberal Arts education across a minimum of three different General Studies subject areas offered at FORUM.

The General Studies Certificates at a glance

Target groups
The target groups of this program are students of all disciplines as well as guest students (as far as places are available) who want to deal more intensively with the respective subject area of a chosen module and thus broaden their subject profile. All General Studies Certificates deal with the topics from an interdisciplinary perspective. Therefore, they do not require any specific prior subject knowledge, but a fundamental interest in a cultural studies-oriented analysis of the topics in question.

Type and scope of course work
A total of 8 credit points can be earned in the thematically oriented General Studies Certificates (exception: General Studies, 10 credit points). This corresponds to a scope of three seminars per certificate. In one of the three seminars, an ungraded participation certificate with two credit points is acquired. In two further seminars, either an oral performance in the form of a short presentation or a written paper of approx. 5 pages or 15,000 characters is written in consultation with the seminar leader, for which 3 credit points and a grade are awarded in each case. A seminar paper can also be replaced by a written examination. As a rule, an oral presentation with a thesis paper is considered a short presentation.
 
In the Certificate General Studies Elective, 10 credit points will be acquired, because additionally to the two graded performances (each 3 credit
points) and one ungraded attendance (2 credit points), students are required to participate in the "Jean Monnet circle Seminar – How does the European Union work?"

Statutes and registration
You can find a detailed overview of the required achievements in the "Statutes for the Acquisition of a Certificate".

A written registration is required for participation in the General Studies Certificates. You can download the registration form here, fill it out, save it, and send it to stg∂forum.kit.edu. Alternatively, you can drop off the completed form at the FORUM office. Registration is possible at any time.

Registration form