En 1989, il donne son premier cours sur un sujet qu'il nomme big history[5],[6],[7],[8] and he serves as president of the International Big History Association[9]. Pour le projet, il bénéficie du travail de plusieurs experts spécialisés dans les domaines des sciences, sciences sociales et sciences humaines[5]. Il attire également l'attention de Bill Gates, qui décide de financer le projet de Christian afin, notamment, de pouvoir développer et enseigner au secondaire une version du cours[9],[10].
Publications
(en)Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History, 2005, University of California Press[11]
(en)Bread and Salt: A Social and Economic History of Food and Drink in Russia, 1984, co-written with REF Smith[12]
(en)A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, volume 1, 1998
(en)Big History: Between Nothing and Everything, 1st edition, 2014, McGraw-Hill Education (co-written by Cynthia Stokes Brown and Craig Benjamin)
(en)Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, 2018, Little, Brown and Company, (ISBN9780316392006)
↑ a et b(en)(en) Vanessa Thorpe, « Big History theories pose latest challenge to traditional curriculum: Maverick academic's 'Big History' – which is backed by Bill Gates – is subject of new documentary », The Guardian, (lire en ligne, consulté le ) :
« Big History, a movement spearheaded by the Oxford-educated maverick historian David Christian,.... »
↑(en)(en) EMILY EAKIN, « For Big History, The Past Begins At the Beginning », The New York Times, (lire en ligne, consulté le )
↑(en) The Teaching Company, David Christian Great Courses professor reference page, Retrieved Sept. 8, 2014
↑ a et b(en)(en) PATRICIA COHEN, « History That’s Written in Beads as Well as in Words », The New York Times, (lire en ligne, consulté le )
↑(en)(en) Ursula Goodenough, « It's Time For A New Narrative; It's Time For 'Big History' », NPR, (lire en ligne, consulté le )