Craig Benjamin

Craig Benjamin is a Professor of History in the Meijer Honors College at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where he teaches big history and ancient world history.  Craig is a frequent guest presenter at conferences worldwide, and the author of several books and numerous chapters and articles on world history. Recent books include Big History: Between Nothing and Everything (McGraw-Hill, 2014); Volume 4 of the Cambridge History of the World (Cambridge University Press, 2015); Empires of Ancient Eurasia; The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE – 250 CE (Cambridge University Press, 2018); The Routledge Companion to Big History (Routledge, 2019); and Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past (McGraw-Hill, 2020).

Craig has recorded three courses for the Great Courses company – Foundations of Eastern Civilization, Big History of Civilization, and the Mongol Empire.  Craig has served as Chair of the College Board’s Advanced Placement and SAT World History exam committees.  He is a Past-President of the World History Association, and served as an executive officer on the Board of the International Big History Association from 2011 to 2018 and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the Bill Gates One World History Project. Before becoming a historian, Craig was a professional jazz musician in his native Australia for 25 years.  Craig has also been an adventurer for much of his life and has trekked and climbed in most of the great mountain ranges on the planet.

C. Alex Young

C. Alex Young is a solar astrophysicist studying the Sun and space weather. Alex is passionate about sharing science with diverse audiences. This led him to start The Sun Today with his designer wife, Linda. First through Facebook and Twitter then adding an extensive website thesuntoday.org, the two work together to engage the public about the Sun and its role in our solar system. Alex led national engagement efforts for the 2017 total solar eclipse. He is the Associate Director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.