Over the century and a half since California was forcibly incorporated into the United States, it has exercised a powerful role upon the imagination and reality of every generation. California has been, at once, the golden gate of opportunity and the grapes of wrath of the downtrodden; social mobility and the policy of incarceration, the glamour of Hollywood and monotony of tract housing, the high-tech of Silicon Valley and the high-sweat of agricultural labor, the Eden of natural bounty and the ecological disaster of sprawl and smog. This course concentrates on the historical role that categories of race have played in defining by whose means, to whose benefit, and in whose image California’s wealth would be produced and consumed. As an intermediate-level history course, this course offers a mix of primary and secondary sources, emphasizes the interaction of multiple causal factors, and encourages students to interpret and to write analytical historical arguments. In addition to discussion, lecture, and common readings, methods of instruction in the course include use of a computer-assisted classroom to provide image and text projections, video clips, and internet linkages. Note: This course can be used to satisfy the university Core Studies in Race (RS) requirement. Although it may be usable towards graduation as a major requirement or university elective, it cannot be used to satisfy any of the university GenEd requirements. See your advisor for further information.