California Dreaming
Visions, Spaces and Shadows from the Golden State
Where: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Italy
When: June 12th, 13th, 2025
Description: Epitomizing America’s quest for the frontier, California stands island-like in the collective imagination of North America. Its location on the edge of the western world, and its history at the margin of the dominant discourse on the United States up until the beginning of the twentieth century, has allowed the Golden State to develop a set of unique features, both culturally and politically. Advertised as a Mediterranean Eden for newcomers, this seemingly verdant heaven came to represent a last horizon, the last opportunity for a nation that has defined its most fundamental identity in terms of pursuit of happiness, independence, and limitless opportunities. To a large extent, throughout the past century California’s self-styled uniqueness came to represent either an exception to, or a most authentic realization of, “the American way.”
The aim of the conference is to gather scholars from different fields of expertise with an interest in California, its many cultures, conflicts, and histories, and provide a meeting opportunity for the growing scholarship about California in Italy and in Europe.
Institution: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”
For more information click here.
