CSP 59 Environmental History of California

This interdisciplinary seminar will examine the intellectual, social, and political history of the California environment with a particular focus on the ways in which different cultural and ethnic groups have perceived, used, managed, and conserved it over the past 250 years. The course will introduce students to essential concepts, concerns, and methods in environmental history, at large, while engaging topics specific to California history including Native lands, the Spanish frontier, the Gold Rush, forestry, the hydraulic empire, wilderness parks, industrialization, urbanization, and environmental justice. Los Angeles as a field of study will occupy a significant place in our exploration.