The Big History Institute provides a hub for scholars interested in interdisciplinary research on fundamental scholarly problems. The Institute also provides a focus for Macquarie University's teaching, in-service training, and knowledge dissemination in Big History.

Macquarie University is the intellectual birthplace of Big History. Whilst exploring conceptions of history on very large scales Professor David Christian coined the term "Big History" to argue for an expansion of the temporal and disciplinary limits of history. Big History has since emerged worldwide as an exciting area of interdisciplinary research and teaching.

David Christian taught one of the world's first Big History courses at Macquarie in 1989. He is the author of "Maps of Time", co-founder with Bill Gates of the "Big History Project", inaugural President of the International Big History Association, and Director of the Big History Institute at Macquarie University.