You are currently browsing the archives for the American Studies category.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia of camps and ghettos, 1933-1945
[general editor, Geoffrey P. Megargee].
Bloomington, Ind. : Indiana University Press : [Washington, D.C.] : United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Call no.
Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference D805.A2 U55 2009 Lib Use Only
Subject
Concentration camps — Europe — Encyclopedias.
World War, 1939-1945 — Concentration camps — Europe — Encyclopedias.
The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world : [1750 to the present]
Peter N. Stearns, editor in chief.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.
8 Volumes
Call no.
Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference D205 .O94 2008 Lib Use Only
Contents
Aborigines-business — Cairo-dust — Earth Day-heart disease — Hebrew language and literature-luxury — Macau-Oxfam — Pachinko-skyscrapers — Slave rebellions, American-white slavery — Wildlife-Zulu War ; index.
History, Modern — Encyclopedias.
Civilization, Modern — Encyclopedias.
From publisher’s web site…”
The breadth of knowledge offered within this multivolume set is astounding, with features spanning articles on countries, regions, and ethnic groups; themes involving social history, demography, family life, politics, economics, religion, thought, education, science and technology, and culture; events such as major wars; and extensive coverage of the United States. Detailed articles cover not only the major facts but the interpretations as well and are written for readers who are not specialists in the particular area. Enriched with over 800 halftones and 50 maps, this reference work is essential for any scholar, general reader, collector or curator interested in this rich and varied time in history…”
I’ve just finished reading Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line, historian Martha A. Sandweiss’ take on the secret marriage of Clarence King, geologist, explorer and author to Ada Copeland, a domestic worker who had been born a slave. The fact of the marriage had been public knowledge since the 1930s, but Sandweiss has built a remarkable book around around it that ties together stories of race and class, economic and social change, adventure and love. Sandweiss discovered that King “passed” as a black man when he met Copeland, and kept from her the secret of his name and his identity as one of the most celebrated men of his day. She found out only in a letter he had written her from his deathbed. The book explores the complexity of this relationship and the question of how King could pull this deception off for more than a decade. More than a microstudy, it is also an extraordinarily rich portrayal of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, and would, I think be a splendid read for an undergraduate course. Sandweiss sums it all up in the final paragraph of the book.
The story of Clarence and Ada King is about love and longing that transcend the historical bounds of time and place. . . . But it is also a peculiarly American story that could take root only in a society where one’s racial identity determined one’s legal rights and social opportunities. At every turn it exposes the deep fissures of race and class that cut through the landscape of American life. . . .
Passing Strange is in the library at Call Number: E 185.625 .S255 2009
Based on interviews with more than 35,000 American adults, this extensive survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious makeup, religious beliefs and practices as well as social and political attitudes of the American public. This online section includes dynamic tools that complement the full report. For a video overview and related material, go to the resource page.
Access: http://religions.pewforum.org/
Walt Whitman always reads well, but on this site he also sounds and looks quite well. The Mickle Street Review brings together audio clips, video recordings, and written scholarship on and about Whitman and the broader world of American Studies. The Review was first published in 1979 and it is based at Rutgers University in Camden. Visitors to the site can browse all of the back issues of the Review, and they can also view the current issue as well. On the homepage, visitors will find the works divided into categories such as “Documents”, “Features”, and “Essays”. One of the more fantastic additions to their site is the digital version of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, which contains a close reading of the text along with a downloadable Brooklyn walking tour by Jesse Merandy. Moving on, the “Listening Room” contains recordings of Leaves of Grass read by Ralph Bellamy and a version of Song of Myself read by Orson Welles. Finally, the “Viewing Room” contains various adaptations and creative visions of Whitman’s works and explorations of his life.
The University of California Libraries has digitized a collection of images of four ethnic groups in California that have been historically underrepresented by digitized primary source materials. In order to learn about diversity in California in a historical context, visitors should start by checking out the Historical Essays highlighted at the top of the site’s homepage. These essays provide brief historical overviews and related images and begin with the period “Before 1768: Pre-Columbian California” and end with the period “1921-Present: Modern California”. Once visitors have familiarized themselves with the history they should move on to the main event. The images of the four groups, “African Americans”, “Asian Americans”, “Hispanic Americans”, and “Native Americans” can be found under their own tabs at the top of the page, and are further divided into subcategories. On the far right side of the page are several free Lesson Plans for grades 4-12 that emphasize these underrepresented California cultures, and utilize this database of images and documents. Some of the lessons include “Stealing Home: How Race Relations, Politics and Baseball Transformed Chavez Ravine” and “Los Californios: California’s Spanish, Native American and African Heritage”.
Access: http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/calcultures/
Did you know the Humanities and Social Science Librarians offer research assistance to undergraduates working on term papers? If your professors require a term paper based on peer-reviewed research, we can help. We will show you how to engage the pressing questions, review the literature, evaluate sources, and assembly the evidence you need for term paper success.
Contact us by email, or come by the Humanities Social Sciences and Government Information Reference desk on the 2nd Floor of the Peter J. Shields Library and schedule an appointment with a librarian who knows your field. Appointments for one-on-one meetings usually last about 30 minutes, but can prepare you for a career of self-directed and critical information research. Past practice shows that Paper-Aid sessions improve grades. Take advantage of this unique service by making an appointment your subject specialist librarian.
The latest edition of eJournal USA focuses on distinguished American writers from various ethnic backgrounds who add immeasurably to mutual understanding and appreciation through tales of their native lands and their experiences as Americans.
