English 273: Art as Activism: Home
What to Look For
Tips for Researching your Artist
Make a note of the names and dates of major events that relate to his/her/their art and activism. These are important facts, as well as keywords you can use to refine your research.
Example: If searching for Yoko Ono, include the bed-in of 1969.
Make a note of the names of other people and/or organizations that your person worked for and policies and initiatives that your person worked to change.
Example: Yoko Ono began her career as an avant-garde artist in the Fluxus movement. She later became more overtly political, tackling issues such as world peace and fracking.
Start Here: Biography Resources
- Gale Biography This link opens in a new window
Excellent resource for biographies and supporting materials.
- Britannica Online School Edition This link opens in a new window
The gold standard for well written general overviews of subjects and topics from all areas/
- ProQuest News, Magazines, and Journals This link opens in a new window
Includes all ProQuest databases. Thousands of resources.
Google Search
When evaluating a source on Google, remember to ask these questions:
Who is behind it?
What is the evidence?
What do others say?
Country and Culture Information
For historical figures, focus on the country during the period when the person was active as well as his/her legacy today.
- American Decades, 1900-1999 (eBook)
Choose your decade from the drop-down menu. - BBC News Country Profiles
Excellent resource for country overviews. - CIA World Factbook
"Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities." Also includes maps. - Country Studies/Area Studies (Library of Congress)
"Contains the on-line versions of books...published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998."
Sample Citation for chapter out of Country Studies:
"Title of Chapter." Title of Book, date of publication, Title of Website, Editor, url.
“The Post-Trujillo Era.” Dominican Republic: A Country Study, 1989, Country Studies, edited by Richard A. Haggerty, http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/12.htm.
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