Big History: An Introduction to Everything

September 19, 2011

World renowned historian David Christian will be at the Martin Institute on Tuesday, September 27 at 4 p.m. for the annual Salameno History Lecture. Christian is most famous for his "Big History" lecture, a riveting 18 minute overview of the complete 13.7 billion year history of the universe, from the Big Bang Theory to the Internet.

In "Big History," Christian explains how the universe gradually built greater and greater complexity and builds a compelling argument for why people should all be learning big history.
Recently, Christian has teamed up with Bill Gates to create the Big History Project, which seeks to teach big history to as many students around the world as possible. Christian argues that the course can transform high school education by breaking down the boundaries between disciplines to help students understand the relationships between major scientific events and developments in human history.

Originally a historian of Russia and a published author in that field, Christian became interested in writing about history on larger scales. In 1989, he began teaching courses on big history, surveying the past on the largest possible scales, including those of biology and astronomy. In 2004 he published the first text on big history.

His "Big History" presentation of was recently made into a 48 lecture course (30 minutes each) for The Teaching Company.

Christian received his B.A. and Ph.D. at Oxford University, and taught at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia from 1975 to 2000 before taking up a position at San Diego State University in 2001. In January 2009 he returned to Macquarie University.

The Salameno Lecture Series in History has been created through the generosity of trustees Lawrence and Theresa Salameno, who sponsored the first endowed chair in the College's history. The Salameno's generosity allows Stonehill to bring some of the country's foremost scholars to campus.

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