Research Guides: HIST 310: Political Technologies of Race and the Body (HC): 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 biographical sketches 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.

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

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.

U.S. History

Oxford African American Studies Center
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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.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History by Lynn Dumenil (Contribution by); Paul Boyer (Series edited by)
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Publication Date: 2012-04-13
Social structures that shaped American life, including family, work, leisure, social movements, and patterns of mobility and settlements, are central to the work, as are themes of race,gender, ethnicity, and class. Sensitive to transnational developments, the volume draws extensively on new literature on slavery, health and disease, sexuality, women's activism, and technology's impact on everyday life.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology by Hugh Richard Slotten
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Publication Date: 2014-10-28
Science, medicine, and technology are not static endeavors but processes, bodies of knowledge, tools, and techniques that are constantly growing and changing. The entries in this encyclopedia explore the key individuals, institutions, and organizations responsible for major developments; and the concepts, practices, and processes underlying these changes.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History by Michael Kazin (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.

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).

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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This 10-volume encyclopedia covers philosophical themes, philosophies, historical periods, and religions.
See also the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for up-to-date coverage of social theory. See, for example:
Feminist Perspectives on the Body
Philosophy of Technology
Walter Benjamin