Welcome

​Welcome to the big history website of the University of Amsterdam. We organise big history courses, most notably the UvA big history elective and honours courses for students from all departments. In these courses, student learn how the histories of the cosmos, life, Earth and human societies have influenced each other and have jointly shaped important aspects of the world we live in now. 

​We also work on big history research, and are involved in other big history projects, such as supporting Dutch high school teachers who also teach big history.

Recent Developments

June 2021
All episodes of the UvA's big history podcast are now available on Soundcloud.

February - May 2021
Dutch high school teachers attend the UvA elective big history course and take part in a teacher training course made possible by Big History Project.

1 July 2019
Esther Quaedackers receives Comenius grant for 'Local Big Histories'.
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3 May 2019
Big history think tank about how nature learns at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Advanced Study, attended by over a dozen renowned researchers.

10 October 2018
Dr. Clara Sousa-Silva, a quantum astrophysicist from MIT, gives a special lecture on how to detect life on exoplanets in the UvA big history course.

5-7 October 2018
The European Big History Network meets in Salas.

28 September 2018
The University of Amsterdam organizes a symposium about the past and future of big history, in honor of the retirement of big historian Fred Spier.

27 September 2018
Over 50 teachers, including teachers from Italy and Spain, attended the Dutch Big History Project conference that featured keynote speaker Bob Bain, a big historian and big history teaching expert from the University of Michigan.

4 May 2018
Prof. Nick Lane from University College London gives a special lecture on why life is the way it is in the UvA big history course.

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