The International Big History Association in collaboration with Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Symbiosis International University, Viman Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

1st to 4th August 2021

India is a powerhouse of innovative development, with cultural and intellectual traditions reaching back thousands of years. Symbiosis is an embodiment of this heritage and enterprise, a truly modern synthesis. Situated along the Mula-Mutha River, its nine campuses in the city of Pune lie on the Deccan Plateau, 600 meters above the Arabian Sea. Founded in 1971, it celebrates its Golden Jubilee this academic year, fifty years of changing lives in the world!

Symbiosis serves 30,000 students, who come from more than 85 countries, so, appropriately, its Sanskrit motto is वसुधैव कु टुम्बकम् – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World is One Family. The Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA) is one of the university’s most innovative programmes. Launched in 2011, SSLA was the first liberal arts school in an Indian university and remains the only four-year degree and honours programme. This is the 50th anniversary for Symbiosis and the 10^th year celebration for SSLA, so it is fitting the IBHA’s 5^th World Conference is held here!

SSLA is home to the India Association for Big History (IABH), which formed in 2016. Two years later, the first course in Big History in South Asia began at SSLA, growing out of its Anthropology Department. Today, the course is taught as Humanity and Big History: Our Challenge for Survival and is a required course for all third-year students.

Other co-sponsors of the 2021 Big History conference are the Asian Big History Association, the Eurasian Center for Mega-History & System Forecasting, and the Indian Association for Big History.