HON 313 - Golden Opportunities: Immigration and the Arts in Southern California, 1900-1950

Prerequisite, acceptance to University Honors Program. Artists and intellectuals converged on southern California from all directions in the first half of the 20th century. Initially drawn by the landscape, the climate, and the promise of economic opportunity, and soon joined by refugees from oppression and war in Europe, they discovered a human landscape already rich with social and ethnic diversity. The resulting convergence of personalities and perspectives shaped an environment of cultural innovation, replete with challenges to received notions about modernity vs. tradition and elitism vs. populism. By midcentury, many of the immigrants had left, but their legacy still resonates today. This course will consider those who were here, those who came, and how their interactions changed the world. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits