California Cultural Landscapes

California Cultural Landscapes utilizes a broad overview approach in its examination of both temporal and spatial changes over the rich history of the state of California, taking into consideration the interaction of cultural groups. California’s diversity is tied into all aspects of the text: the natural resources, cultural identity, economics, physical setting, human behavior, and politics. Incorporating geographical methods to provide students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of cultural and social institutions is the powerful approach used in each chapter.

The second edition further clarifies California geography and its impact upon the developing Golden State. This is accomplished through expanded maps, charts and graphics; and California in Focus sections highlighting specific places and their function. In addition, the final two chapters have been fully revised to emphasize California in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries focusing on the rise of a multiethnic, multicultural society strongly controlled by geography, with specifics addressing the pressures of immigration, economy, and changing patterns of California settlement.

California Cultural Landscapes is designed to help students with the following student learning objectives:

• The physical processes that shape the patterns on California’s surface
• How these physical processes affect human cultures
• How various cultures have modified the physical environment
• The patterns of human migration and settlement through-out the region
• The role of interethnic relations in shaping these migrations and settlement patterns

This textbook comes with a full color student California Atlas and a companion website that is integrated within the text for increased comprehension and exploration.