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David Christian, Cynthia Stokes Brown, and Craig Benjamin Our Conference Big Picture, Big Questions Page 1 International Big History Association 2014 Conference elcome to the second conference of the International Big History Association! The program committee is excited about the presentations that are scheduled for “Teaching and WResearching Big History: Big Picture, Big Questions.” Together, Big Historians, professors and grad students, scientists and scholars, are exploring the past and the future of this new scholarly BIG HISTORY field. Between Nothing and Everything We are very pleased to be at Dominican University of California and in the San Francisco bay area for by David Christian, Cynthia Stokes Brown, and Craig Benjamin our conference. This is a beautiful location with a rich history and many unique characteristics that make it an attractive place to live, visit, and experience the deep past. We appreciate the untiring work and generous support of our hosts here at Dominican. All of the people on the organizing committee here at Dominican have tirelessly arranged for the logistics. That committee included the professors 1st edition | 007-338-561-1| 9780-0733-856-17 who teach in the Dominican Big History program, the program coordinator, Jaime Castner, Jill Thomas, and was headed up by Associate Provost Mojgan Behmand. ©2014 | Publication Date: 8/2/13 Big History: Between Nothing and Everything surveys the past not just San Rafael is a wonderful destination in Marin County surround by woods and beaches. For all things of humanity, or even of planet Earth, but of the entire universe. In San Rafael go to http://www.sanrafael.com. For a complete guide to San Francisco and its many reading this book instructors and students will retrace a voyage that attractions, visit http://www.sanfrancisco.com/. If you have more time to explore the larger Bay Area, began 13.8 billion years ago with the Big Bang and the appearance see http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Explore/Bay-Area/. You might take advantage of the opportunities of the universe. Big History incorporates findings from cosmology, to participate in the geological tour on August 6 and the wine tasting tour on August 10. Please contact earth and life sciences, and human history, and assembles them Donna Tew to arrange to go on either of the tours. into a single, universal historical narrative of our universe and of our place within it. Written by the pioneers of the field, this text Many people have worked very hard to organize this conference. The members of the program presents a framework for learning about anything and everything and committee have exchanged flurries of emails for months as the program has developed its final form. encourages students to think critically about our cumulative history Pamela Benjamin and Donna Tew have put in endless hours on every aspect of the conference. Also, we and the future of the world through a variety of lenses. are deeply saddened by the death of one of our original program committee members and much beloved Big Historian professor at Dominican, Neal Wolfe. We remember him with fondness and admiration. What Instructors Are Saying About Big History We appreciate the generous support of The Big History Project, and Microsoft Research and ChronoZoom for their generous contributions to the conference as well as to the field of Big History. “I consider this text a masterpiece of research, scholarship, and exquisite writing.” Big History is now available as a —Hope Benne, Salem State University SmartBook®, the first and only This conference is a very exciting event for anyone interested in Big History. The conference will adaptive reading experience give us all a chance to see some of the many different ways in which Big History is flourishing, and to “The biggest strength of the text is its authors. .They convey a strong sense designed to change the way students showcase the many different kinds of research, teaching and creativity that the field is generating. We of enthusiasm for their subject and of its inherent value. And they have built read and learn. SmartBook for Big hope it will also provide many opportunities, both in the formal their analysis on a good grasp of current scholarship.” History is featured in McGraw-Hill sessions and in the informal networking, for attendees to discuss —John Mears, Southern Methodist University Connect Plus®, along with other where Big History is going, what we need to be working on in instructor resources. the next year or two, what have been our major successes (there “This is going to be an excellent standard textbook of Big History.” —Alexander Mirkovic, Arkansas Tech University are many!), and what are our major challenges. But above all, we hope you will enjoy the conference. Have fun! Cordially, Your program committee: Cynthia Brown, Lowell Gustafson, For more information about Big History 1st edition and SmartBook, please email Fred Spier, Harlan Stelmach, Joseph Voros [email protected] PageVisit 2 www.mhhe.com/wmg/mcgrawhill_bighistory to hear lead author DavidTeaching Christian and talk Researching about the 1st Big edition History: International Big History Association 2014 Conference Thursday, August 7 10:15 am - 3:00 pm Breakfast on your own Thursday, August 7 10:15 – 10:45 am Coffee Break 8:00 am – Noon: Registration, Guzman Hall 9:00 – 10:15 am 10:45 am – 12:00 pm Opening Plenary Session Dominican University of California Plenary Session Guzman Lecture Hall Guzman Lecture Hall David Christian President, IBHA Robert Connor Macquarie University Former President of the Teagle Foundation “Big History: a personal voyage” “It’s still the same old story . Or is it? ─ History: origin, present situation, future” IBHA Members’ Business Meeting Working Lunch Guzman Lecture Hall 12:15 - 1:15 pm 1:30 – 3:00 pm Panels Panel 1: 1:30 - 3:00 pm Guzman 302 Writing the First Big History Textbook Big History: From Nothing to Everything Chair: Mojgan Behmand, Dominican University of California David Christian, Macquarie University Cynthia Brown, Dominican University of California Craig Benjamin, Grand Valley State University Page 4 Teaching and Researching Big History: Big Picture, Big Questions Page 5 International Big History Association 2014 Conference Thursday, August 7 1:30 - 5:00 pm Panel 2: 1:30 – 3:00 pm Panel 5: 1:30 – 3:00 pm Guzman 306 Guzman 202 Teaching (1) Religion (1) Janusz Duzinkiewicz, Purdue University North Central Teilhard de Chardin and Big History Chair: Marianne Rogoff, Dominican University Kate Hawkey Chair: Lowell Gustafson, Villanova University Big History Across the Pond Peter Hess, National Center for Science Education Tracy Sullivan, Big History Institute, Macquarie Bridgette O’Connor, St. Scholastica Academy Big History as an essential presupposition of Christian University Seohyung Kim, Ewha Womans University History, Faith and Science: Teaching Big History from theology Transformative Learning Experiences and the Little Convergence Education in Korea: Science and Social a Catholic Perspective Big History Project for Secondary Students Studies Panel 6: 1:30 – 3:00 pm Guzman 307 Panel 3: 1:30 – 3:00 pm Guzman 301 Big Politics Maarten Oranje, Independent Researcher (European Studies) Earth in Big History David H. Shimabukuro, Sacramento State University, Chair: James Cunningham, Dominican University The Nation State and its Borders from a Big History Sacramento, CA. of California perspective Chair: Kiowa Bower, Dominican University Reconstructing the history of the Earth from a fragmentary rock record Michael Weller, LePen-Club Tony Harper, McHenry County College The Role of Humans in the History of the Universe Global Volcanism as it Impacts the Integrity of the Walter Alvarez, University of California Berkeley World System Geology in Big History: How Earth concentrates elements and makes them useful 3:00 – 3:30 pm Coffee Break 3:30 – 5:00 pm Concurrent Presentations Panel 7: 3:30 – 5:00 pm Guzman 306 Research Leonid Grinin, Eurasian Center for Big History and Panel 4: 1:30 – 3:00 pm System Forecasting Guzman 201 Chair: Cynthia Brown, Dominican University The Star-Galaxy Era of Big History in the Light of Evolutionary Principles Complexity (1) David Baker, University of Amsterdam & Macquarie Matthew McConnell, Oregon State University University Rethinking Big History Curriculum: The Challenges Lucy Laffite, UNC-TV Chair: Joseph Voros, Swinburne University of The Darwinian Algorithm: An Extension of Rising of a Research Based Approach Lycopod, cycad, and platypus: survival of the less fit Technology Complexity as a Unifying Theme of Big History David LePoire, Argonne National Laboratory J. Daniel May, Dominican University of California Two Contrasting Views of Energy and Time Scales Complexity by the Numbers Page 6 Teaching and Researching Big History: Big Picture, Big Questions Page 7 International Big History Association 2014 Conference Thursday, August 7 Thursday, August 7 3:30 - 6:30 pm Panel 8: 3:30 – 5:00 pm Panel 11: 3:30 – 5:00 pm Guzman 202 Guzman 302 Big History for All Kinds of Learners: A Religion (2) Pedagogy Workshop Cynthia Taylor, Dominican University Chair: Lowell Gustafson, Villanova University Hiroko Shiota, California Institute of Integral Studies Panel Chair: Fred Spier, University of Amsterdam Human Cultures through the Lens of Big History Big History and Shinto Margaret Boone Rappaport, The Human Sentience Marianne Rogoff, Dominican University Thomas Burke, Dominican University Project Scott Sinclair, Dominican University of California Big Literature through the Lens of Big History
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