Cities in California: Fake and Temporal

(Part one of this course will look at one set of
materials and part two will look at another set of
materials.) Fake cities can be defined by many
aspects such as movie sets, caricature towns like
Little Tokyo, theme parks, ghost towns, temporary
cities, and sets left in and around Los Angeles
that have later been incorporated. When do these
cities become fake or real, and how can we use
historical inquiry to find out? This course will
be a case study on fake cities located in
California, and it will also examine the
essentials of a Californian city within that
framework. It will also explore how to use the
fake city to create a narrative or an
understanding of history. This course will wonder
where we can find the fake city seeping into
literature, movies, and mixed media. We will study
works such as Ansel Adams' "Born Free and Equal",
Mark Twain's California writings, Carey
McWilliams' "Southern California", Jordan Peele's
"Nope", and primary texts about historical events.
This idea of the fake city will also be used to
understand the socioeconomic and parasocial
relationships (meaning between audience and
creator) we have with the fake/temporary city and
its inhabitants. Each student will participate
through class discussions and by bringing in an
item (such as a photograph, map, vase, etc.) to
discuss. They will also use this item as
complementary evidence to the text(s). Lastly, the
student will create a presentation generated from
these discussions.