6 EC
Semester 2, period 4, 5
5512BIHI6Y
| Owner | IIS keuzevakken |
| Coordinator | Esther Quaedackers |
| Part of | Instituut voor Interdisciplinaire Studies (algemeen), algemene vakken, year 1 |
How did the histories of the cosmos, earth, life and humanity jointly shape your world?
In the big history course, renowned experts, ranging astrophysicists to historians, will stimulate you to consider this question. They will take you on a journey from the Big Bang until today. Along the way, they will challenge you to connect various astrophysical, geological, biological and cultural processes to each other and to an aspect of the world around you that matters to you.
As a result, you will learn to integrate disciplinary perspectives and spatial and temporal scales. You will see and appreciate how your chosen topic fits into a bigger picture. And you will discover what new questions and creative insights emerge from that while strengthening your complexity awareness and capacity for out-of-the-box thinking.
A syllabus with various book chapters will be provided through Canvas.
Various videos and optional podcasts will be provided through Canvas.
Before the seminars, you will review and annotate introductory knowledge clips and reading materials in order to familiarise yourself with the cosmic, geological, biological and cultural processes and their interactions that shaped our world.
During the seminars you will deepen your understanding of these processes and their interactions.
After the seminars, you will apply what you will have learned to an aspect of the world around you that matters to you and create your own little big history. Brainstorm assignments and feedback meetings will help you do so. You will present your work during a concluding symposium. While doing all of this, you will generate creative new ideas about your chosen aspect's long term-past, present and future and will develop an appreciation for how our current world fits into broader story of the cosmos, Earth, life, and humanity.
| Component | Amount | Duration | Hours |
| Working on review assignments | 12 | 4 hours / week | 48 |
| Attending seminars | 13 | 2 hours / week | 26 |
| Working on little big history brainstorm assignments | 11 | 4 hours / week | 44 |
| Working on little big history | 1 | 24 hours | 46 |
| Attending little big history feedback meetings | 2 | 1 hour | 2 |
| Presenting during little big history symposium | 1 | 2 hours | 2 |
| Total | 168 |
Additional requirements for this course:
The seminars are interactive and cover subjects in ways the review assignments do not. Participating in the seminars is crucial for achieving learning goals 1, 2 and 3. In-person attendance during the seminars is therefore obligatory.
You are allowed to miss 2 out of the 13 seminars. If you have a valid reason for missing a seminar, this will not count towards the 2 seminars you are allowed to miss, as long as you inform Esther before missing the seminar.
The little big history feedback meetings are crucial for achieving learning goals 3, 4 and 5. They are also graded course components. Attendance during the feedback meetings is therefore obligatory.
The little big history symposium presentation is a graded course component. In-person attendance during the symposium is therefore obligatory.
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
Review assignments | Must be ≥ pass, Mandatory |
|
Little big history brainstorm assignments | Must be ≥ pass, Mandatory |
|
Little big history | Must be ≥ pass, Mandatory |
|
0.35 (35%) Little big history feedback meeting 1 | Mandatory |
|
0.35 (35%) Little big history feedback meeting 2 | Mandatory |
|
0.3 (30%) Little big history symposium presentation | Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory |
An average grade of 5,5 or higher is required to pass the course. Note that at the IIS, where this course is hosted, final grades are rounded to whole or half digits behind the decimal point. Final grades between 5 and 6 will not be awarded (5.5 becomes 6).
If you miss or fail on or more required component(s) of the course, you will be provided with one extra opportunity to complete or pass the component(s).
The IIS uses the rule that course components that were passed can be used for one year. In case students want to finish the course after two years, they need to meet the same requirements as the first year.
You have the right to inspect assessed work up to 20 working days after the announcement of the result. If you would like to inspect your assessed work, please email Esther to schedule an appointment.
This course consists of various types of assignments and assessments.
Review assignments require you to review and annotate introductory knowledge clips and reading and:
Little big history brainstorm assignments require you to brainstorm about possible connections between big history and an aspect of the world of your own choice for your little big history. They:
Your little big history requires you to develop a number of the connections from your brainstorm assignments into a coherent project. It:
During little big history feedback meetings you are required to present and discuss your draft little big history and will receive feedback. They:
During a little big history symposium, you are required to present your final little big history in the form of a 3 minute talk. Your presentation:
This course adheres to the general rules on ‘Fraud and Plagiarism` as set by the UvA. Students are expected to have familiarized themselves with these rules.
The terms Fraud or Plagiarism are to be interpreted as the copying of the work of peer-student and/or the copying of (scientific) sources of information, without explicitly referring to its source.
Fraud/plagiarism is forbidden and actively checked by staff. When one is suspected of having committed fraud/plagiarism, the exam committee of beta-gamma and future planet studies will be informed. The highest punishment for fraud/plagiarism involves the student to be disallowed to partake of any exams or examination activities within the future planet studies programme, for the duration of a whole academic year, or may even face dismissal from the programme. More information about Fraud and Plagiarism can be found at: www.uva.nl/plagiaat
You can find detailed information about the course structure on the Modules page on Canvas.