Research Guides: HIST 400: Senior Thesis Seminar (HC) 2023-24: Background

Using Background Information

Subject encyclopedias provide overviews of ideas, people, and events They are a quick way to find out the basic facts and current points of debate. When using an article in an encyclopedia or handbook, always check the bibliography for further reading at the end of the article. It will provide a selective list of the books, articles, and, sometimes, primary sources.

Biographies

American National Biography
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Offers portraits of more than 18,000 men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped the nation. No living person is included.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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Contains biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond,from the earliest times to the year 2001. Articles focus on noteworthy people from all walks of life. No living person is included. Coverage varies.

Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
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Provides information on the history of science through articles on the professional lives of scientists. All periods of science from classical antiquity to modern times are represented.

Asian History

Cambridge history of China
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This multiple-volume history provides detailed analyses of pertinent social, political, and economic issues.
Encyclopedia of modern Asia
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Online version of: Encyclopedia of modern Asia. New York : Scribner, 2002. 6 v.
Encyclopedia of Modern China
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Provides critical information on the most populous country and most dynamic trade market in the world: the people, politics, economics, religion, philosophy, traditions, art, and literature of this ancient and enduring civilization are explored from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day.

European History

Europe 1450 to 1789
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Europe 1789 to 1914
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Europe since 1914
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Readings for European History
Bibliographies based on collections in the three colleges for
gender, the royal courts, and the Enlightenment.

Latin American History

Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century
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This link to the Historical Collections section of this text-based database demonstrates the range of material available from documents connected with the discovery and conquest to the FBI File on the American Churchwomen Killed in El Salvador, December 1980.

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture by Jay Kinsbruner; Erick Detlef Langer
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ISBN: 0684312700
Publication Date: 2008-05-09
Provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary view of Latin American history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. Covers cultural issues and includes numerous biographical profiles of important figures in politics, letters and the arts. Available online.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mexican History and Culture by William H. Beezley (Editor)
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ISBN: 019068089X
Publication Date: 2019-01-15
Provides an overview of the best available scholarship on Mexico. Themes include biography, environment, gender, history and culture. Unique to this work are articles on digital sources.

U.S. History

The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History by Michael Kazin (Editor); Rebecca Edwards (Editor); Adam Rothman (Editor)
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Publication Date: 2009-11-29
Broad in scope, the book addresses both the traditional topics of political history and the wider subjects of current scholarship, including military, electoral, and economic events, as well as social movements, popular culture, religion, education, race, gender, and more.
Oxford African American Studies Center
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Publication Date: Updated regularly
Comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American history and culture. Features articles by top scholars in the field, images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, maps, charts and tables, and biographies.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History by Jane Daley, editor in chief
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Publication Date: 2014 to the present
Currently offers over 500 substantive, peer-reviewed, and regularly updated essays concerning American history. New essays are added regularly. Especially useful for analysis and discussion of recent scholarship. Note the bibliographies and references to related articles at the ends of entries. Use the Browse by Subject link to see listings by topic area.

Encyclopedias in Related Subject Areas

Encyclopedia of religion
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The second edition of a resource that is considered a standard reference in the field. Presents a cross-cultural approach that emphasizes religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture. The original 2,750 entries have been retained, many heavily updated, and approximately 600 entirely new articles have been added by an international team of scholars and contributors.

Literature Resource Center
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Provides biographies, bibliographies and scholarly articles on novelists, poets, essayists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of highly-studied authors.
Oxford Art Online
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Oxford Art Online is an art reference library that searches Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, and The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. This resource contains images, biographies, subject entries, and thematic timelines (antiquity to present).

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Entries are created and updated by experts in the field, and each contains extensive bibliographic references