HIST 1030 Big History Lens on the Evolution of Human Cultures
"Big History" takes an immense voyage through time: from the first moments of the Universe fourteen billion years ago with the birth of stars and galaxies to the emergence of our Solar System some nine billion years later. Using a biocultural approach, the course will first examine how life biologically evolved over billions of year as living organisms successfully extracted energy from Earth’s rich environmental resources. The course will then focus on the emergence of human beings and their cultural ability to extract energy by adapting effective food-getting patterns: first in hunter-gatherer cultures, to agrarian multicultural civilizations, and to today’s complex industrial civilizations. The students will also work with local community organizations on a project. This course only satisfies the CORE requirement when offered as a service learning course. Meets nursing requirements.