In the 1950s, as the population, economy and freeway construction mushroomed, Los Angeles emerged as the creative center of American pop culture. In this course, we explore the developments that led to this perception—movies like Rebel Without a Cause and TV shows like 77 Sunset Strip that were shot around the city, and architecture like Capitol Records’ round office building that resembled a stack of records. We visit L.A.’s star-studded restaurants, from the Brown Derby to Chasen’s, and the beaches where surfers flocked thanks to the invention of lighter surfboards. We look at how L.A. became a tourist destination with the opening of Disneyland in nearby Anaheim, and how the city finally gained big-league status when the youngest City Councilperson in the history of Los Angeles, Rosalind Wyman, helped bring the 1955 World Champion Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.
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