HIST 395 Special Topics in History

Reading and Writing Los Angeles: 

Major urban centers such as Los Angeles have always been evocative locations for cultural representation. The densely packed topographies rich and diverse social interactions and complex hierarchies of power and influence situated in these exemplary places lend them an air of excitement and mystery. These same factors that inspire intriguing urban literature film and journalism also make cities exemplary subjects for historical investigation. In this course we will employ a strategy of documentary archaeology to reconstruct the relations of power race gender and ethnicity embedded in the historical landscapes of Los Angeles during the twentieth century. Through archival research (in Occidental College's Special Collections and elsewhere) close reading of cultural artifacts and careful exploration of scholarly works we will seek to uncover something of the fabric of everyday social history in the noir megalopolis. 

Life in the Mosaic: 160 Years of Jews in Los Angeles: 

The story of Jews in Los Angeles is both familiar and unique. Familiar because it is a story of the growth of Los Angeles and the mobility of its citizens. Unique because Jews have been at both the center and the margins of influence in the political social and cultural movements that have created contemporary Los Angeles. This course explores from the beginning of the American era to the present day the pivotal roles Jews have played in the shaping of Los Angeles and the reshaping of Jewish identities communities and perspectives by the opportunities and challenges found in Los Angeles. By examining how Jews have negotiated and continue to negotiate the complexities of life in Los Angeles the course offers students an opportunity to consider the processes of social incorporation marginalization and fragmentation against the backdrop of urban development. Using the perspective of one of the many diverse groups that have transformed the region it anchors historical change in a comprehensible narrative. By considering how the place and myth called Los Angeles has shaped Jewish identities the course offers students an occasion to reflect on their own notions of self-identity community and society in the twenty-first century. The course themes and topics are derived from an exhibition to be mounted at the Autry National Center in Spring 2013. Through course assignments and related activities students will be able to contribute to the development of the exhibition with their original research as research and editorial interns and through analytical critiques of various elements of the exhibition. The combination of class and field work will allow students to acquire experience in historical research interpretation and public presentation. 

The US Since 1945: 

This readings course will focus on the cultural social and political dimensions of the history of the United States from 1945 to the present. Among the topics under consideration will be race ethnicity gender consumer culture religion social movements as well as the intersection between politics culture and globalization. The texts studies will be major books by historians political scientists sociologists and non-fiction authors. 

California Since 1940: 

California Since 1940 Before World War II California was in many ways an agricultural settler society far removed from the global currents which propelled it to world prominence in previous centuries. But the war transformed the Golden State into an industrial powerhouse and brought dramatic social changes which would define the nation throughout the twentieth century. In this class we begin with the Depression and War to witness the birth of a new noir California particularly in Los Angeles and trace the intersection of military/technological expertise and leisure culture as it produced the counterculture Internet and personal computer revolutions that would once again place California at the center of the world. 

The Arts and Public Life in Modern America: 

An exploration of the ways in which the arts have influenced public life in the United States since the early 20th century and have in turn been shaped by competing visions of democratic citizenship. In addition to examining the public interventions of artists we will study the history of institutions ranging from museums and government cultural agencies to local community arts groups. The course combines seminar meetings with visits to area sites and organizations. 

Transportation and Place in American History: 

How have our ways of moving through the world affected our understandings of familiar spaces around us? Can we think of transportation technology as a form of mass media that has changed over time thus altering perceptions of even the most familiar landscapes? In this course we will explore several historical modes of perceiving and navigating the landscapes of American cities and particularly greater Los Angeles ranging from the pedestrian city to the metropolis of railroads and streetcars (including the famous Pacific Electric system) to the sprawling megalopolis of automobiles and freeways. We might even speculate what a transit and pedestrian Los Angeles of the future might look like - will it be a return to the past or betoken new ways of understanding and organizing our everyday urban spaces? Central to this exploration will be extensive research in the college's John Lloyd Butler Special Collections archives on railroads and their history and on Southern California in the twentieth century. In this process students will carry out original archival research culminating in a significant paper reflecting both their own research discoveries in the archives as well as their new perspectives on American urbanism in Southern California and elsewhere. Same as UEP 395