Education Commons^™

The Why And Where Of Big History: Building A Program, Mojgan Behmand

Office of Academic Affairs

The goals of our First Year Experience program are aligned with our institutional mission, our core values, and the goals of our General Education program. The program is designed to promote:

1. recognition of the personal, communal, and political implications of the Big History story;
2. critical and creative thinking in a manner that awakens curiosity and enhances openness to multiple perspectives; and,
3. development of reading, thinking, and research skills to enhance one’s ability to evaluate and articulate understanding of one’s place in the unfolding universe.

Big History As General Education, Nicola Pitchford, Mojgan Behmand

Office of Academic Affairs

A presentation on the emerging discipline "Big History" and how it could be integrated into the general education curriculum, using the First Year Experience at Dominican University of California as an example.

An English Major’S Revelation: Dominican’S Big History Summer Institute, Jaime Castner

Office of Academic Affairs

Perhaps English majors are predisposed to appreciate Big History. After all, the epic of our universe is just that: an epic. The longest story ever told. My introduction to Big History came in my last year as an undergraduate at Dominican University of California, when I was given the unique opportunity to provide staff support for the world’s first general education program with Big History as its content.

Breaking Down The Ivory Tower: The (Past And) Future Of Liberal Arts Education, Nicola Pitchford

Office of Academic Affairs

The first compelling point Dominican illustrates is that private liberal arts universities can effectively serve the needs and interests of first-generation college students and students of color (respectively, 25% and 46% of our student body). This has been a deliberate commitment at Dominican, but it also demonstrates that broad-based and contextualized learning can be just as appealing and just as relevant as more narrow pre-professional programs to those students and families who are often under the most pressure to consider immediate return on their college investment. There is more to be done yet, in terms of our supporting students and …