Big History will help you understand how everything around you became the way it is, so you can develop a better understanding of the challenges facing our societies now.  

A variety of renowned experts, ranging from astrophysicists to social scientists and historians, will take you on a journey that covers all of history, from the Big Bang until today. During the first part of each seminar, they will briefly discuss their research and explain some of the major processes underlying big history. Afterwards, there will be room for discussion based on your questions. State-of-the-art readings will explain what drove this history.

In the final project, you will apply what you've learned throughout the course to one aspect - of your choice - of our current world and think about this in a creative and interdisciplinary way. And finally, you will get to present your final project to your peers and guest moderators during a student symposium. 

Coordinator

Esther Quaedackers MSc.

Timetable

You can find the timetable on Datanose. 

Entry requirements

Open to second-year and third-year UvA Bachelor's students and Master's students as well as contract students or 'bijvak' students from other Dutch higher education institutions. High school students are also welcome, please click here for more information. 

Registration 

Registration is open from 5 December 2022. For students registration proceeds through the GLASS registration rounds. Master’s students can send a short motivation to keuzeonderwijs-iis@uva.nl. ‘Bijvak’ students and contract students can register by completing the online registration form. 

If you have any trouble while registering, please contact us at keuzeonderwijs-iis@uva.nl. 

Costs

Prices can be found on the IIS website.

More information

SDGs in education

The IIS strives to reflect current societal issues and challenges in our elective courses, honours modules and degree programmes and attempts to integrate the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in this course. For more information about these goals, please visit the SDGs website.