Life’s Big Questions

One Friday last October, groups of around 10 people, consisting of students and instructors from UZH, visited Zurich’s famous sights. While to an onlooker this may have looked like a guided tour, there was no tour guide talking about the city’s history while all the others listened. Instead, there were animated conversations taking place between all participants on the walk. The conversations revolved around very specific questions. So, for example, at the Grossmünster church, participants talked about whether retreating into silence can help figure out what makes a life worth living. 

At the Lindenhof park, the group of around 40 people was asked to reflect on how an awareness of being part of a long history of humanity influences their lives, and whether it is a comfort or a burden. 

The questions asked by participants on the module Life Worth Living were unusual, but they are not new. The course, offered at UZH for the first time in the 2025 Fall Semester, draws on the past: “We wanted to revisit the ancient origins of the idea of university,” says Ralph Kunz, professor of practical theology at UZH and initiator of the program.

Ancient thinkers such as Plato and Socrates would address life’s fundamental questions on walks with their students. “Their vision was to engage in dialogue with people to explore what matters in life.” As the founding fathers behind the idea of university, they always saw it as two things: a place for scholarly thought, but also a place for encounter and shared philosophizing, says Kunz.

Kunz firmly believes that engaging with the big questions in life is not only a private matter. Anyone who goes to university inevitably brings their personal views and experiences into their studies. “Getting the opportunity to address these questions at university is personally enriching, but also valuable for study in any discipline,” says Kunz. Because it teaches you a broad range of skills, from the ability to reflect and to express your thoughts clearly, to the ability to value different viewpoints and critical judgment skills. Above all, though, it teaches you to see things from other people’s perspectives.

The new module was inspired by a course by the same name Life Worth Living that theologian Miroslav Volf has been running at Yale in the US since 2014. The idea has since been picked up at various universities across the world. Ralph Kunz is offering the module in collaboration with four UZH instructors in psychology, law, religious studies and philosophy. 

The basic structure of the course is the same as the one at Yale. The fortnightly meeting always focuses on a central question: what does it mean to be human? What is a life worth living? To whom am I responsible? How can we respond to suffering and death? In preparation, students are given texts to read on these questions from various traditions of thought and faith, and academic disciplines. The subsequent input from teaching staff usually takes place as co-teaching. If the topic is guilt and forgiveness, for example, the perspectives of law, theology and psychology may be integrated. 

“I rarely speak to my fellow students and friends about such fundamental questions of life,” says Nina Brander. She is in her first semester of veterinary medicine and finds the course a valuable addition. Studying philosophical texts is new to her: “But it’s a great experience, and I already feel more confident doing it.” The fact that the interdisciplinary dialogue is very respectful helps, she adds. “The participants are from a wide variety of subject areas and at various stages in their studies. But they all try to communicate clearly and effectively. And we listen to each other and take other opinions seriously,” says Brander. 

“What I’ve found fascinating, for example, was the text by an astrophysicist setting out his view of humanity, and the view of indigenous American cultures on the coexistence of plants, animals and humans,” says Brander. To her, one thing is clear: it’s less about the answers and more about the questions that this module raises. And these questions also affect her everyday life. 

She says the course has made her more aware of her scientific mindset, and also expanded it: “I now see things differently thanks to the conversations that have taken place in this module.” Previously, for example, she would have seen a tree in a forest primarily as a habitat for animals, whereas now when looking at trees she also thinks about things like growth and rootedness. 

In view of her studies, the future vet is grateful for the opportunity to be able to engage with questions such as being responsible for lives: “It helps to be prepared before the moment comes when I have to decide for the first time whether to put a sick animal to sleep.” 

She was also inspired by the aspect of self-care in relation to the question of living a good life: “It’s well known that students and professionals working in human and veterinary medicine are disproportionately affected by mental health problems. To me, it’s clear that alongside the heavy workload, it’s essential to carve out time for other interests and adequate rest. The course has empowered me to take that seriously,” says Brander. 

Not only does the course introduce students to different perspectives on life from science, religion and their fellow students, it is also structured differently from a traditional seminar. Students and instructors on Life Worth Living are on first-name terms, and the module includes a two-day block course, during which participants walk around Zurich together, but also cook and eat meals together. “This also helps to start conversations and share personal experiences in relation to life’s big questions,” says Ralph Kunz. 

At the final session of the module, students will have the opportunity to talk with Yale theologian Miroslav Volf online. Nina Brander is looking forward to this. “We’re stepping out of the confines of our subject areas, talking about unfamiliar topics and getting to know other perspectives.” This is precisely what she had hoped to get out of the course. And she’s not the only one. The module filled up quickly. It will be offered again in the 2026 Fall Semester.