California had been called "the great exception" and "America, only more so." Yet few of us pay attention to its distinctive traits and to its effects beyond our borders. California may be "a state of mind," but it is also the most dynamic place in the most powerful country in the world, and would be the 8th largest economy if it were a country. Its wealth has been built on mining, agriculture, industry, trade, and finance. Natural abundance and geographic advantage have played their parts, but the state's greatest resource has been its wealth and diversity of people, who have made it a center of technological and cultural innovation from Hollywood to Silicon Valley. Yet California has a dark side of exploitation and racialization.

FPF Threads: California, Citizenship, Social Justice. With topics ranging from genocide to gentrification, and from incarceration to innovation, this course explores the material places and social spaces that have created both astonishing wealth and intractable inequality in California. Students will have a unique opportunity for experimental learning, social justice activism, and collaborative research with community partners through our ACES project.

Requisites

• Enrollment in this course is restricted to first semester freshmen participating in the Fall Program for Freshmen (FPF). Non-FPF students are not permitted to enroll in this course.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for XGEOG 50AC after completing GEOG 50AC. A deficient grade in XGEOG 50AC may be removed by taking GEOG 50AC.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills