Envisioning California Conference Series

For almost two centuries people fleeing hardship, poverty, oppression, societal conventions, or climate have migrated to California to find the good life in the golden land. The diversity of our histories, cultures, religions, and philosophies have made California a microcosm of the world community we see emerging on the eve of the twenty-first century.

The Envisioning California Conference, founded by the Center for California Studies in 1989, assembles Californians with particular insight into the bits and pieces of this diversity and its consequences. Our discussions attempt to analyze successes and failures in efforts to bring Californians together and to keep differences from breeding discord. We question what defines California, who Californians are, and where California is going. We reach into broad vistas of the California experience, from sociology, politics, ethnicity, and history to the arts, literature, and religion. We believe that understanding California today is an essential step in foreseeing the future of our nation and the world.The mainstay of the Center's efforts in California Studies is its annual Envisioning California Conference Series. The Center has held ten conferences since 1989 covering a wide variety of topics.

Past Envisioning California conferences include: