California dreaming

California matters, both as a place and as an idea. What famed historian Kevin Starr has called ""the California Dream"" is a vital part of American self-understanding. Just as America was meant to be a place of renewal, even redemption, for Europe, so too California was intended as a place of renewal for America. Therefore, California--place and idea--provides a fertile ground for scholars to think deeply about what it means to articulate ""the promise of American life."