Third IBHA Conference: University of Amsterdam, 14-17 July 2016
The University of Amsterdam, where big history has been thought since 1994, proudly hosted the third IBHA conference, the first one held outside the USA.
The conference title “Building Big History: Research and Teaching” indicated that a major goal of the conference was to further develop the young field of big history, with concurrent presentations and roundtables on topics ranging from big history research agendas to innovative teaching practices.
Special events included keynotes by big history pioneers Fred Spier and Johan Goudsblom from the University of Amsterdam and paleobiologist Mark Williams from the University of Leicester. In addition, there was a presentation by the Big History Project and update sessions in which renowned scholars and scientists from the Netherlands lectured on the latest developments in their fields that are relevant for big history.
For those interested in the history of Amsterdam there was a guided walking tour. After the conference, attendees were invited to join a big history tour of Western Europe, in which a number of sites where important scientific discoveries were made and historically significant places were visited.
The main conference venue: the Oudemanhuispoort at the University of Amsterdam