Cynthia Stokes Brown (March 20, 1938 – October 15, 2017) was an American educator and historian.

Background

She earned her BA at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in history (summa cum laude) and her M.A.T. and Ph.D. from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in the history of education with fellowships from the American Association of University Women and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. After teaching tenth-grade world history for two years and living in northeast Brazil for two years with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

, Brown directed the single-subject credential program at Dominican University of California at San Rafael from 1982 to 1992. She taught full-time in both the history and education departments until 2001, when she retired from full-time teaching to write ''Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present''. Using the term Big History, coined by David Christian at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, Brown told the whole story from the Big Bang to the present in simple, non-academic language to convey our common humanity and our connection to every other part of the natural world. Teaching part-time after 2001, Brown pioneered the teaching of Big History at Dominican University of California, where it is now a required course for every incoming freshman. She served as a founding board member of the International Big History Association (IBHA). Brown died of pancreatic cancer on October 15, 2017, at her home Berkeley, California, surrounded by family. Brown was an American Book Award recipient in 1987 for ''Ready From Within: Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement''.8th Annual Book Awards Held
'' Washington Afro-American'', June 9, 1987, p. 12.

Writings

* ''Big History, Small World: From the Big Bang to You''. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2017. * ''Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights''. New York: Teachers College Press, 2001. * ''Connecting With the Past: History Workshop in Middle and High Schools''. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994. * ''Like It Was: A Complete Guide to Writing Oral History''. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1988. * ''Ready From Within: Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement''. Navarro, CA: Wild Trees Press, 1986. ( American Book Award, 1987); re-issued by Africa World Press, 1990. * ''Literacy in 30 Hours: Paulo Freire's Process in Northeast Brazil''. London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, 1975. * Article
"What Is a Civilization, Anyway?"

References

*
Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present
'. New York: New Press, 2007.
Cynthia Stokes Brown." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Gale Biography In Context. Web. June 6, 2011.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cynthia Stokes 1938 births 2017 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American women writers American Book Award winners American educators American expatriates in Brazil American women historians Big History Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni World historians