Big History Makes Big Impact
When David Burzillo began working last summer on the curriculum for his new Interdisciplinary Studies course Big History, he knew he was breaking new ground.
When David Burzillo began working last summer on the curriculum for his new Interdisciplinary Studies course Big History, he knew he was breaking new ground. He based his curriculum on a course that had been taught for two decades by David Christian at Australia’s Macquarie University and subsequently adopted by other colleges. But the course, which traces the history of mankind within the history of the universe and covers topics ranging from the Big Bang to the Industrial Revolution, had never been taught at the high school level.
Burzillo became part of an international team of history teachers, chaired by Christian and supported by a generous philanthropist, and was charged with creating a free, online, ninth-grade Big History curriculum with all the necessary teaching materials (videos, texts, etc.) available through the course website, www.bighistoryproject.com.
“The idea would be that any ninth grade students anywhere in the world could eventually take this course,” said Burzillo. “All a teacher or school would need to offer the course would be internet access. With Microsoft© providing the platform, the content should be exceptional.”
Rivers will be one of eight pilot schools in the U.S. and Australia to offer the course this year. The course will then be taught at a larger number of U.S. and Australian schools in the fall of 2012, and available to schools world wide in the fall of 2013. “Visiting” lecturers at Rivers include science teacher Michael Schlenker for a discussion on astrophysics, biology teacher Kim Kopelman on plate tectonics, evolution and Darwinism, and chemistry teacher Jeff Meropol on stars and galaxies.
“I anticipate that we [the planning team] will meet again next spring, and the first meeting of the International Big History Association will take place next August in Michigan,” said Burzillo. “I expect we will be part of that.”
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