Education Commons^™

Big History And Sustainability, Duncan Blake Ross

Master of Arts in Humanities | Master's Theses 1936 - 2022

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical examination of Big History at Dominican and offer some retrospective suggestions for any possible future first year experience programs.

I reflect on Big History texts, critical papers and books as well as my own experiences and interviews with others. My research and reflections suggest that big history pedagogy failed to convey sufficient meaning and purpose to students. The actual value of the big history pedagogy was compromised by confusing and unnecessary elements of the main text. I conclude that big history pedagogy should culminate in sustainability studies. It is there …

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

Mojgan Behmand

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: recognition of the personal, communal, and political implications of the Big History story; critical and creative thinking in a manner that awakens curiosity and enhances openness to multiple perspectives; and, 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

Nicola Pitchford

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.

Big History As General Education, Nicola Pitchford, Mojgan Behmand

Mojgan Behmand

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.

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.

Poster Presentation: Big History: From A History Course To A First Year Contextualization Of The Whole Person, Mojgan Behmand

Mojgan Behmand

No abstract provided.

The Dominican Big History Summer Institute: A Story Of Collective Learning, Mojgan Behmand

Mojgan Behmand

No abstract provided.

Slimmer, Brighter, And Nearly Perfect: The New Big History Textbook Is Here, Mojgan Behmand

Mojgan Behmand

Rarely has the appearance of a new textbook been the cause of such delight as broke out amongst the First Year Experience faculty at Dominican University of California in August 2013. The book that triggered such reaction is a seemingly unassuming volume, Big History: Between Nothing and Everything (2013), written by historians David Christian, Cynthia Stokes Brown, and Craig Benjamin, and published by McGraw-Hill. Why was the book greeted with such enthusiasm, you might ask? Was it that the world needed another textbook on history? That the Dominican faculty felt a special bond with one of the authors, Dominican professor …

Slimmer, Brighter, And Nearly Perfect: The New Big History Textbook Is Here, Mojgan Behmand

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Rarely has the appearance of a new textbook been the cause of such delight as broke out amongst the First Year Experience faculty at Dominican University of California in August 2013. The book that triggered such reaction is a seemingly unassuming volume, Big History: Between Nothing and Everything (2013), written by historians David Christian, Cynthia Stokes Brown, and Craig Benjamin, and published by McGraw-Hill. Why was the book greeted with such enthusiasm, you might ask? Was it that the world needed another textbook on history? That the Dominican faculty felt a special bond with one of the authors, Dominican professor …

The Dominican Big History Summer Institute: A Story Of Collective Learning, Mojgan Behmand

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Poster Presentation: Big History: From A History Course To A First Year Contextualization Of The Whole Person, Mojgan Behmand

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Sin Boldly! Or, First-Year Experience ‘Big History’ In 21st Century Liberal Education, Mojgan Behmand

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Big History is rapidly emerging as a new global discipline! whose adoption into diverse educational models is advocated by a rich array of voices, from those of educators and artists to industrialists" and spiritualists. Of those voices, some concern themselves primarily with higher education and, in turn, almost unanimously

advocate for the inclusion of Big History into general education programs or core curricula. Unfortunately, the unanimity ends there. Bemoaning the politics and territoriality of higher education, many of these advocates feel forced to bow to institutional realities and the ever-continuous competition for turf and resources; and thus aspirations and hopes …