ULibraries Research Guides: Chicana/o/x & Latina/o/x Studies: Background Information

Chicana/o Studies is one of the minors offered by the Ethnic Studies Program of the School for Cultural and Social Transformation. This minor allows for a more concentrated focus on a specific racialized population in the United States—in this case, peoples with Chicana/o, Latina/o, and Mexican American heritage. Students pursuing a minor in Chicana/o Studies can choose classes from four content areas: History and Politics, Contemporary Issues, Literature and Language, and Gender and Ethnicity. Through your coursework, you will gain a broad view of the point where race & gender and contemporary issues intersect.

Background Sources

Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW) features newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing access to their perspectives. With titles dating from 1990, ENW presents a full-text collection of more than 300 publications offering both national and regional coverage. The collection contains publications from Asian-American, Jewish, African-American, Native-American, Arab-American, Eastern-European, and multi-ethnic communities. Titles include New York Amsterdam News, Asian Wee…
Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW) features newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing access to their perspectives. With titles dating from 1990, ENW presents a full-text collection of more than 300 publications offering both national and regional coverage. The collection contains publications from Asian-American, Jewish, African-American, Native-American, Arab-American, Eastern-European, and multi-ethnic communities. Titles include New York Amsterdam News, Asian Week, Jewish Exponent, Seminole Tribune, and more. A majority of the content is exclusive to ENW and not available in any other database. Of the more than 1.6 million articles contained in the collection, nearly a quarter are presented in Spanish. Dozens of major Latino publications are featured, including El Nuevo Herald, El Diario/La Prensa, and Mundo HispÃ¡nico.
Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
This database contains all the materials the library provides access to through Accessible Archives. Some of the materials in this database (African American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Gazette, etc.) are owned outright by the library and have their own listings elsewhere in the database listings, but this entry will give you access to the content we subscribe to on a temporary basis as well. Accessible Archives is made up of a number of digitized historical newspapers which cover a range of topics, but which generally focus on early American history.
This database contains all the materials the library provides access to through Accessible Archives. Some of the materials in this database (African American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Gazette, etc.) are owned outright by the library and have their own listings elsewhere in the database listings, but this entry will give you access to the content we subscribe to on a temporary basis as well. Accessible Archives is made up of a number of digitized historical newspapers which cover a range of topics, but which generally focus on early American history.
America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
America: History and Life indexes literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With indexing for 1,700 journals from as far back as 1910, this database is a strong bibliographic reference tool for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history. This database also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. The predominantly English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and…
America: History and Life indexes literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With indexing for 1,700 journals from as far back as 1910, this database is a strong bibliographic reference tool for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history. This database also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. The predominantly English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages.
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction This link opens in a new window
This database contains more than 100,000 pages of poetry, fiction, and drama written in English and Spanish by hundreds of Chicano, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and other Latin authors working in the United States. Numerous Chicano folk tales, audio files of selected poems and plays are included. Nearly 800 items (poems, novels, and plays) in the collection have never been published before.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
This listing provides access to a collection of language and subject reference works which the Marriott Library has purchased through Oxford University Press. The collection is cross-searchable and can also be browsed by title or entry. Users can retrieve over 2 million short and long subject reference entries (many of which are illustrated), bilingual dictionaries, English dictionaries, quotations, and proverbs. Patrons may also sign up for a (free) personal account which will allow searches…
This listing provides access to a collection of language and subject reference works which the Marriott Library has purchased through Oxford University Press. The collection is cross-searchable and can also be browsed by title or entry. Users can retrieve over 2 million short and long subject reference entries (many of which are illustrated), bilingual dictionaries, English dictionaries, quotations, and proverbs. Patrons may also sign up for a (free) personal account which will allow searches and other research information to be saved between sessions.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
The CQ Researcher publishes reports 44 times a year that offer in-depth single-topic coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each CQ Researcher report is investigated and written by a seasoned journalist. Editors identify the topic to be investigated, then the writer conceives its content, formulating the key questions that it will seek to answer; reads background mat…
The CQ Researcher publishes reports 44 times a year that offer in-depth single-topic coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each CQ Researcher report is investigated and written by a seasoned journalist. Editors identify the topic to be investigated, then the writer conceives its content, formulating the key questions that it will seek to answer; reads background material; interviews a range of sources; synthesizes available information; and writes the report. The report's writer quotes a range of sources, including lawmakers, academics, interest group representatives, government officials as well as citizens involved in the issue. The report concludes with a bibliography that contains an annotated list of key sources.