California Symposium to Honor Faculty Member

Faculty members from four Southern California universities will focus on various aspects of California history during a “California Studies Symposium” Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Cal State Fullerton.

The free program, from 10 a.m.-noon in Room 360 of the Pollak Library, is being presented, in part, as a tribute to the late Clark Davis, an associate professor of history at Cal State Fullerton who died in 2003.

The symposium is co-sponsored by Cal State Fullerton’s History Department and the university’s Center for Oral and Public History.

“Clark specialized in the history of California, but he was also interested in business culture, race, gender and ethnicity in the United States,” said William Haddad, chair and professor of history at Cal State Fullerton. “When he died at age 36, we wanted to sponsor a program that would honor his area of expertise and serve as a tribute to some of the work he achieved in his short life.”

Among the topics to be addressed at the symposium include Davis’ notion of “the perfect job” in California — a recurring theme that appeared in his book, “Company Men: White-Collar Life and Corporate Cultures in Los Angeles, 1892-1941” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). In addition, the speakers will look at California history and the influences that range from academia to Hollywood to various ethnic groups, and what influences and cultures they provided.

Scheduled forum speakers include: Becky Nicolaides, associate professor of history and urban studies and planning at UC San Diego and author of “My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-65” (University of Chicago Press, 2002); Josh Sides, assistant professor of history at Cal Poly Pomona and author of “L.A. City Limits: African American Los Angeles From the Great Depression to the Present” (University of California Press, 2003); and David Igler, assistant professor of history at UC Irvine and author of “Industrial Cowboys: Miller & Lux and the Transformation of the Far West, 1850-1920” (University of California Press, 2001). Natalie Fousekis, CSUF assistant professor of history, will moderate. A book signing will follow the program.