International Big History Association

UTOK Consilience Conference 2023
2023-03-17 08:00 - 2023-03-18 17:00 (America/New_York)
Dr. Gregg Henriques is Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University; he is the author of “The Tree of Knowledge System: A New Map for Big History,” Vol. 3 No. 4 (2019): Journal of Big History and founder of the Theory Of Knowledge Society. That society is sponsoring the UTOK Consilience Conference 2023 on March 17 and 18.

Chat Room, 3/29, 9 am est
2023-03-29 09:00 - 10:30 | Zoom, Russian Federation
To help maintain contacts or meet others in the IBHA even before our July 2023 conference, please join us for informal discussions about anything regarding big history that you are thinking about. We cordially invite all who share our interest in big history to join us on Airmeet (similar to Zoom) on March 29. Since our members are in such a variety of time zones we are offering two times on that day – at 9 AM ET and at 9 PM ET. There will be an IBHA “host” to moderate a lively discussion among all that attend. So please grab a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or beer or whatever, and tell us your thoughts!

The links to attend the meetings are below.
Hope to see you there.
The IBHA Board
https://www.airmeet.com/e/abb80f90-afa3-11ed-8ced-2f1595423c83 , 9 am EST (Host: Daniel de Pinho Barreiros)
https://www.airmeet.com/e/ce0bbf00-afae-11ed-a696-b1b07624da35 9 pm est (Host: Dave LePoire)

If you are not sure what time that is for you, you can use tools like the Time Zone Calculator to find out.

IBHA Chat, 3/29, 9 pm est
2023-03-29 21:00 - 22:30 | Zoom, Russian Federation

Complexity: Big History Studies from Russia
2023-04-16 03:00 - 05:00 | Zoom, Russian Federation
Registration: To sign up, please send an email to the OBHM <bighistorymovement@gmail.com> with your name, affiliation, and email address by the end of Friday April 14 in your local time. For security, we share the link to join the webinar only with those who are registered on the day before it.

Complexity: Big History Studies from Russia
2023-04-16 03:00 - 05:00 | Zoom, Russian Federation
Registration: To sign up, please send an email to the OBHM <bighistorymovement@gmail.com> with your name, affiliation, and email address by the end of Friday April 14 in your local time. For security, we share the link to join the webinar only with those who are registered on the day before it.

Registration: To sign up, please send an email to the OBHM <bighistorymovement@gmail.com> with your name, affiliation, and email address by the end of Friday April 14 in your local time. For security, we share the link to join the webinar only with those who are registered on the day before it.

2023 IBHA Conference
2023-07-07 - 2023-07-09
Link to Airmeet site, home of the conference.
Conference 2023 Information
The 2023 IBHA Conference Theme on
Humanity on a Finite Planet: A Big History Perspective
The discipline of big history throws light on the achievements and challenges in the present and possibilities for the future by analyzing the biological, social, political and economic history of the homo sapiens in the context of the geological, climatological, environmental, and evolutionary history of the planet earth and the cosmological history of the solar system and the universe.
At this point in time, the human civilization is at a crossroads. The choices we collectively and individually make in the next decade or so will lock humanity into either a destructive or a sustainable pathway for our species. In big history terminology, we may have just entered or are about to enter a new threshold. While in the past, humans have progressed largely by following their survival and adaptation instincts, now as a global civilization, collectively we have a better understanding of the complex web of reality around us and therefore are in a position to make informed choices towards a desirable destiny.
We now know that we are living on a complex planet with highly interconnected planetary systems but finite material resources. Through the combined processes of biological evolution (a natural planetary process) and technological revolution (a human-induced process) we have become the ‘top predator’ in the food as well as materials chain on the planet. The concept of planetary boundaries – which are key planet-level processes that govern the stability and resilience of the earth in a form required to sustain humanity – was introduced by Johan Rockstrom, Will Steffen and collaborators in 2009 and further refined over the years.1 As per the current data available at least four of the nine processes are no longer in the ‘safe operating region’. In other words, at least some of the critical ‘Holocene’ conditions under which humanity thrived and progressed, no longer exist on the planet. The most widely discussed examples are global warming and loss of biodiversity.
However, from another perspective, over the past few centuries, we have also seen great strides in improving the quality of human life in terms of health and life expectancy, as well as the ways and means available to manifest, express and share human creativity and innovation in various forms. There are also innumerable localized examples of human communities achieving respectable quality of life in harmony with the localized planetary processes.
Where do we go from here? How do we put to use the positive outcomes of human endeavours to combat the potential negative outcomes? What should be the new direction given to human knowledge systems to ensure an equitable and sustainable human civilization that is more mindful of the limits as well as potentials of the planet earth and the solar system? What does the new planetary normal mean for the philosophical and spiritual frameworks developed by humans so far? How do we deal with the psychological impacts of the transformative change (either destructive or constructive)? Will the upcoming technological developments like human-AI interface, genetic modification, space travel, nanomaterials, etc., harm or help humanity? The conference will focus on exploring these and similar questions through multidisciplinary lenses.

2024 IBHA Conference
2024-06-28 - 2024-06-30 | NCED Hotel & Conference Center, 2801 East State Highway 9, Norman, Oklahoma, 73071
We look forward to seeing you in person at our 2024 conference from June 28 to 30, where we can discuss all of our latest work on the cosmos, Earth, life, humanity – as well as exoplanets, astrobiology, the multitude of life forms, culture, and the potential of a multiverse – throughout all of the known past as well as in what we might reasonably expect in the future.
We have in the past met in an entirely on-line conference (2023), a hybrid on-line / in-person conference in India (2021), and in-person conferences in Pennsylvania (US, 2018), the Netherlands (2016), California (US, 2014), and Michigan (US 2012).
The center of North America is another great place to discuss big history. The geology of Oklahoma is formed by Carboniferous rocks in the east, Permian rocks in the center and towards the west, and a cover of Tertiary deposits in the panhandle to the west. The panhandle of Oklahoma is also noted for its Jurassic rocks as well. Cretaceous sediments are found in the south east. There are also some areas with older outcrops dating back to Cambrian, and even one area of Precambrian igneous rocks. The Great Salt Plains are the remains of an ancient inland sea. The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is a world class, state-of-the-art natural history museum with wings about flora and fauna, the evolution of life, and the peoples of Oklahoma from precolumbian times to the present. The First Americans Museum presents the many nations of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City Science Museum, Museum of Art, Zoo, and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, add more opportunities. And have fun at the Hurricane Harbor Water Park!
The conference will take place at the beautiful and well equipped NCED Conference Center & Hotel, which is just 3 miles from the heart of the University of Oklahoma campus. It has a 60,000 square foot fitness center with unique amenities including 4,000 square foot weight and cardio room and heated pool. Rooms are reasonably priced at $114 per night, which includes breakfast. The conference fee will be $325, which includes a Friday welcome reception, as well as lunches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Most importantly, we will all have the opportunity to present, discuss, and listen to each other’s work on the fascinating field of big history, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones!
A call for papers and registration information are forthcoming, but be sure now to put this on your calendar!

Free Webinar: August 21, 2024. Big History Systems Evolution
2024-08-21 14:00 - 15:00
Abstract: Evolutionary mechanisms enabled humans to irreversibly transform Earth systems, culminating in the present-day, globally connected, system of Anthropocene systems. Because Anthropocene systems are highly interdependent and dynamically evolving, often with accelerating rates of cultural and technological evolution, the ensuing family of societal challenges (e.g., climate change and impacts, renewable energy, adaptive infrastructure, disasters, pandemics, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, sustainability, resilience and equity) must be framed and addressed in an integrated manner. To catalyze the required societal transformations, an evolutionary, system-of-systems (evoSoS) convergence paradigm is needed to coordinate strategic interventions across multiple systems and scales. The new paradigm requires a major transformation in our approach to science and engineering and includes an evoSoS computational framework, evoSoS decision-support system and evoSoS pedagogy. A new generation of Anthropocene systems integrators is needed to create a meta-discipline that spans all the disciplines associated with societal challenges of the Anthropocene.
Bio: John Little received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and an MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the Charles E. Via, Jr. Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. His earlier research focused on process dynamics in environmental systems but has now broadened to Anthropocene systems. John has been a visiting professor at University of Sydney, Australia, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Switzerland, Tsinghua University, China, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, University of Granada, Spain, Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, France, and University of La Rochelle, France.
