08/24/2026
Sign up quick for HIST 445: California History with professor Andrew Wiese for the Fall Semester!
Check the link in our bio for an introductory video by the professor!
History 445 is an introduction to California History and a foundation for understanding the place we know today as California from ‘pre-history’ to the 21st century. We will emphasize the last 500 years especially. HIST 445 satisfies the California State University requirement for Civic Education in the history and institutions of California State and Local Government.
This semester, we will organize our work through inquiries surrounding Six Major Themes.
1) Land – HIST 445 will focus on the changing relationships between humans and the wider environment – the impacts of people on the land and the influence of the land on society over time.
2) People – This course will examine the development of social diversity in California, its abundant effects on the state, and the multifaceted relationships among California’s peoples over time.
3) Power / Race– In California’s history, social positions and possibilities were mediated by ideas about race. So, this course will pay careful attention to the evolving but enduring role of race in California.
4) Politics and Government. To deepen our understanding of Californians’ relations of power, we will examine the history of formal structures of politics, including government and law, which have shaped authority, liberty, citizenship and social capacity over time.
5) Global Connections. Lastly, California’s history is a story shaped by global connections, renewed, reimagined, and remade through time. The ‘Global California’ of today has a history; this course will trace it.
6) Hope and Resilience. These human virtues are central to California's history, and we will attend to their impact - today and in the past.
One Approach: California as ‘a Place’:
From a theoretical perspective, we will approach California History as a history of ‘Place-making,’ that is, the creation of a multi-layered and meaningful world through actions, ideas and experiences in relation to the environment over the last five centuries and more.
