Welcome to the Fourth Conference of the International Big History Association.
IBHA President Lowell Gustafson and Villanova University President Fr. Peter Donahue welcome participants in the fourth conference of the International Big History Association.
From Quarks to Culture: Tyler Volk’s Plenary Address to the IBHA
Tyler Volk, professor in the departments of environmental studies and biology at New York University, gave the plenary address to the Fourth conference of the International Big History Association at Villanova University. Tyler Volk has authored seven books, most recently, Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be. Barry Wood of the University of Houston introduced Dr. Volk.

Our thanks to Brian Sirak and the entire Multimedia Technology team at Villanova University for their recording of the presentation.
The Present State of Big History in Japan
In Japan, Big-History frameworks, thresholds, collective learning, and a modern creation myth are similar but also different. Tsujimura sums up these in a short history and diagrams and shows the future challenge.
Nobuo Tujimura
Big History in Korea
Three years ago, Korea’s first big history class started as the first non-English speaking country. Through the efforts of many educators in Korea, we conducted a good class that crossed the barrier of language and culture. We would like to introduce a big history in Korea that has been publsihed in many books, reported in the media, and published in textbooks. In addition, there are three activities that are unique to Korea.
Hanseung Kim
Kyungtae Kim
Hyogun Lee
Dong Min Shin
The New Cosmic Story: Inside Our Awakening Universe
We will discuss how John Haught in The New Cosmic Story: Inside Our Awakening Universe contends that there is a revelation in big history—seeing that an inside story goes along with the outside story.
John Haught
Ursula Goodenough
John Grim
Lowell Gustafson
Jose-Carlos Pons
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Aesthetics & Beauty in Evolution
Is there a deep aesthetic in the ‘natural’ world? Does beauty play a role in evolutionary dynamics? How are aesthetics important to a comprehensive understanding of Big History?
Cameron Davis
Sam Guarnaccia
Emergent Universe Oratorio
Listen to any of the 17 pieces of the Oratorio.