AMST Subject Gateway

The sources found here on the American Studies Gateway are aimed to create an American Studies viewpoint, but they are by no means the only sources for information on America. If you are taking a class in a specific discipline (e.g. English, History, Political Science, etc.) within the American Studies program, please avail yourself of the sources found in the subject gateway developed for that specific discipline as well.

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks: Ref E169.1.E625 2001

Covers a broad range of topics in American Culture from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks:  Ref E169.1.E624 2001

Essays covering “ideas or movements that had an impact on Americans in their own day; those that produced a continuing impact on American thought and expression; and those that have emerged as influential only in later times.”

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks:  Ref HN57.E58

Covers ethnographic histories and popular culture. Considers social groups such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, and sexual and political orientation. Broad coverage. Chronological, methodological, and thematic coverage.

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks: Ref E169.1.E625 2001

11 volumes covering American history by decade from 1900-1999 on a variety of topics including world events, arts, business and the economy, education, fashion, government and politics, law and justice, life styles and social trends, media, medicine and health, religion, science and technology. Additional resources include timelines, major news items, biographies, and publications.

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks: Ref E169.1.A471979

8 volumes covering American history by era through 1899 on topics such as world events, the arts, business and the economy, communications, education, government and politics, law and justice, lifestyles, social trends, and fashion, military, religion, science and medicine, sports and recreation, and peoples. Additional resources include timelines, major news items, biographies, and publications.

v. 1, Early American Civilizations and Explorations to 1600.
v. 2, The Colonial Era (1600-1754).
v. 3, Revolutionary Era (1754-1783).
v. 4, Development of a Nation (1783-1815).
v. 5, Reform Era and Eastern U.S. Development (1815-1850).
v. 6, Westward Expansion (1800-1860).
v. 7, Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877).
v. 8, Development of the Industrial United States (1878-1899).

Available in print only in 3rd floor reference stacks:  Ref E169.1 .G7553 2009

Provides an overview of everyday American life, aspects of social and cultural history, from 1763 – present. Also includes related primary source documents.

This is a great database to use to begin finding articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers related to your topic.  It covers a wide range of subjects.

Be sure to click BOTH the 'Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals' checkbox and the 'References Available' checkbox to find scholarly articles.  Remember to use the button to check for the full-text of an article.

Indexes articles on North American  (United States and Canada) history from 1450 - present. Links to full text articles from other Ebsco databases and JSTOR, either directly or through the button.

Journal citations and abstracts for articles in areas of the humanities, including history.  Use this database (along with JSTOR) to identify articles on history pre-1450, including  the classical and medieval worlds. Journal citations and abstracts for archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, the performing arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature.  Includes ethics and law.

Some articles are full-text; for others, you will need to use the button to see if full-text is available in another database.

Be sure to check the 'Scholary (Peer Reviewed) Journals' checkbox before you begin searching if you wish to retrieve only scholarly articles.

A comprehensive index covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing and produced for a broad target audience, from film scholars to general viewers. Subject coverage includes: film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.

Use the button to see if articles are available full-text in other databases.

Provides fulltext access to 450 core scholarly journals in the Arts and Sciences. Coverage begins with the first issue of each journal title. However, JSTOR does not include any articles from the most recent five years. For those you will have to search other sources, such as Academic Search Premier or Project Muse.

Collection created by the Library of Congress of "written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music" documenting the American experience.

A digital library "documenting American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction" created by University of Michigan and Cornell University.

Nearly 4,000 items including letters, diaries, oral histories, memoirs, and autobiographies, dating from 1675 to the present, which combined, present a social and cultural history of the United States.

Current photos and a selection of pictures from The Associated Press library. This database features photographs of historical figures, political leaders, sports greats, and celebrities, and also includes images from significant news and events of the 20th century, such as World War II, civil rights, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and space exploration.

A collection of American history digital videos that allows students and researchers to analyze historical events, the presentation of historical events over time. Includes commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries. Most of the films in this collection would be considered primary sources.

The Library of American Civilization is a microfiche collection of “more than 6,500,000 pages of material relating to all aspects of American life and literature from the beginning to the outbreak of World War I.” The indexes for accessing these materials are available in Reference and the Periodicals Room above the microfiche cabinets. Microfiche and microfiche readers are available on the 2nd floor of Cook Library.

v. 1, Author Index
v. 2, Title Index
v. 3, Subject Index
v. 4, Biblioguide Index

Quinnipiac University’s Arnold Bernhard Library has linked to freely available electronic versions of more than 2,500 of the titles in this collection. To use this resource, first locate items using the print indexes and then search for items by title in the Quinnipiac University's Catalog: simply add the title into the search box in the upper left-hand corner.

A directory of American Studies journals created by the American Studies Association and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

A collection of American Studies and American Ethnic Studies doctoral dissertation abstracts created by the American Studies Association.