Big History: Connecting Knowledge

Macquarie University via Coursera

Go to class Write review

Details

Go to class

Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

Paid Certificate Available
Duration & workload

6 weeks long, 29 hours worth of material
Sessions
Subtitles

Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan

Found in

History Courses

Overview

Class Central Tips

We currently face unprecedented challenges on a global scale. These problems do not neatly fall into disciplines. They are complicated, complex, and connected. Join us on this epic journey of 13.8 billion years starting at the Big Bang and travelling through time all the way to the future. Discover the connections in our world, the power of collective learning, how our universe and our world has evolved from incredible simplicity to ever-increasing complexity. Experience our modern scientific origin story through Big History and discover the important links between past, current, and future events. You will find two different types of lectures. ‘Zooming In’ lectures from multiple specialists enable you to understand key concepts through the lens of different disciplines, whilst David Christian's ‘Big History Framework’ lectures provide the connective overview for a journey through eight thresholds of Big History.

Syllabus

Big History, Critical Thinking, & Transdisciplinarity

Welcome to Big History! This is where we use the power of a transdisciplinary perspective to explore broad trends in the grand narrative of 13.8 billion years. In this module you'll learn how Big History works, explore critical-thinking, how we know what we know, and learn about the first "3 Thresholds of Increasing Complexity", milestones around which Big History is organized, starting at the beginning of the Universe, space, time, and everything in existence.

The Universe, Stars, and Planets

Our journey across space and time has begun. In this module, in a timeline that covers billions of years, we'll explore the origins of the universe, new stars & elements, and the solar system. You'll have the opportunity to examine cosmology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and geology.

The Evolutionary Epic

Travel through the evolutionary epic from the origin of life c.3.8 billion years ago, the evolution of complex forms after c.550 million years ago, to the evolution of some very odd primates - humans. Zoom in and explore evolutionary biology, geology, palaeontology, and anthropology.

Human History

After billions of years of cosmic evolution, our own rather peculiar species has emerged to cultivate even greater heights of increasing complexity. In this module, we will explore the long trend of human development from the origin of our species c.200,000 years ago to the eve of the Industrial Revolution. You will explore archaeology, paleography, and ancient, medieval, and early modern history.

Modernity

We have now arrived at one of the most dynamically changing periods ever seen in human history - our own times. This module will explore how the agrarian era that had lasted for 10,000 years transitioned to the modern era with its explosion of production and complexity. We will explore modern history, political science, and economics.

The Future

We've looked far into the deep past, now is the time to take what we've learned and look ahead. In this module we will explore the near and distant future, what challenges we face this century, how we study the future on the scale of billions of years, and where complexity may go from here. The section incorporates climatology, cosmology, physics, and foresight.

Taught by

David Baker

Reviews

4.4 rating, based on 13 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at Coursera based on 1661 ratings

Start your review of Big History: Connecting Knowledge

Rebecca Judd @becca

Rebecca Judd completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.

Superb course. It's given me a much better perspective on the universe and our own history. It also asks some questions about what's in store for the universe, and us, which got me thinking about the future. The videos generally don't feel too long....

Superb course. It's given me a much better perspective on the universe and our own history. It also asks some questions about what's in store for the universe, and us, which got me thinking about the future.

The videos generally don't feel too long. The course doesn't have much compulsory material, but it does have a lot of optional material to accompany the videos; I found this worked well for me, because I could more easily mould the course around my weekly life as I got busier or less busy.

Oh, and I found the short video on tips for reading hieroglyphs to be a pleasant surprise!

Should you take this course? Yes. Everyone should.

Just don't give up at week 2. The week starts off with a cautionary video about week 2 being more complicated, but not to give up. Pay attention to that video and keep going. Week 2's material is interesting, you can take your time, and it doesn't matter if (like me) you end up getting lost during some of the videos. It gets easier again from week 3 onwards.
Anna D

Anna D is taking this course right now, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

I find this to be excellent in many aspects. First of all, Big History itself is fascinating. It is the story of our universe and humanity itself, explained in a simple way which people of all fields can understand. I like the fact that it's supported...

I find this to be excellent in many aspects.

First of all, Big History itself is fascinating. It is the story of our universe and humanity itself, explained in a simple way which people of all fields can understand. I like the fact that it's supported by multiple content from various sources, which can help you to better gasp some concepts and dwell further into your topic of interest. I find it brilliant that the viewer is urged to challenge his views, as well as those presented in the course instead of just blindly accepting them. This is a nice introduction to the scientific method and sharpens your critical thinking, which is a skill we all seek to further develop. The instructor was successful in delivering his knowledge and passion to the viewer, and the visual aids assisted with better comprehension of the subject.
Magnus Melin

Magnus Melin is taking this course right now, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.

Very thought provoking. Since it deals with our origins to now.

The videos are very short, which I like. With more information in Glossary and follow-ups. That´s how I like it, because of this can you also choose difficulty level and time commitment.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I found this course to be greatly interesting. I personally feel Big History should be taught in all schools throughout the world. It is our common history and will help to encourage collective efforts in humanity to further protect our planet.

The course lectures are derived from a wide variety of disciplines. Highly recommend to all, not just to those interested in history or science.
Danielle And Angel Nieves

I am trying to take advantage of the Free Certificate off the Extended list. I have followed the steps and tried several times with "Big History" and "Social Psychology" and it will not show the banner at the top for the Option to take the course for free. At checkout it shows the $50 fee still. PLEASE HELP!
Nicholas Jackson

Nicholas Jackson completed this course.
Pamylle Greinke

Pamylle Greinke completed this course.
Martin Dunn

Martin Dunn completed this course.
Virgilio

Virgilio completed this course.
Georgakopoulou Vicky

Georgakopoulou Vicky completed this course.
Annamaria Marinelli

Annamaria Marinelli completed this course.
Michael Ye

Michael Ye completed this course.
Joanna Daniel

Joanna Daniel completed this course.