USC Courses

Co-Instructors:

Professor Peter Westwick

syllabus

Course description:

“California is artificial.”  We’ve all heard it, usually as a pejorative.  But what if we take it literally?  What if we approach the Golden State not as the home of the slick-talking Hollywood agent or the stoned surfer, but rather as the home of the engineer? Such a perspective reveals that California’s economy, its environment, its celebrated leisure culture, and even the bodies of the people themselves are artificial—that is, made of technology, by the engineer.

This seminar examines the history of technology in California from the Gold Rush to the present. Although Silicon Valley is often viewed as the original high-tech region, it is just one in a series of tech-based knowledge economies—from mining and oil to aerospace and biotech—that have made the Golden State the sixth largest economy in the world.  Meanwhile, massive technological infrastructure—water, power, transportation—engineered the environment and enabled California to absorb tens of millions of new residents, whose everyday lives are increasingly intertwined with devices. This course examines how all this came to pass, and how technology has shaped California—and how California has shaped technology—for both good and ill.

Co-Instructors:

Co-Instructors:

Professor William Deverell and Professor Peter Mancall

Professor William Deverell and Professor Roberto Lint-Sagarena