Interdisciplinary Studies in the Commons
Photo by Corey Young on Unsplash
IDS 405 Project Topic Ideas
For the project in this course, you will select an American social movement or interest group to investigate. Click into the sub tab for this course to find a list of social movements and interest groups and a brief overview for your consideration.
Helpful links:
In this course you will be accessing many podcasts as well as primary and secondary sources. Here are some useful links to help with navigating that:
Note: Remember to Check Your Bias
If you're a human on this planet, you're going to come to an argument with some sort of bias. When researching it can be very easy to be swept away by sensational articles or articles that are designed to persuade you to believe the author's argument. While reading, always remember to SIFT This link opens in a new window :
Stop
- Check in with yourself-are you experiencing strong emotions while reading? If so, maybe check to see if the language used is trying to manipulate your feelings to lean a certain way.
Investigate the source
- Who is the author of the article or video? Do they have the credentials or background to provide objective expertise in a certain subject area?
Find better coverage
- How many other sources have reported on this topic? Can you find a number of reliable sources that all hold the same claim? If not, you may want to reconsider the source.
Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context
- Are citations provided? Can you find the original research and come to your own conclusions? Is the version of the story you are reading as unbiased as possible?
Useful Databases
Below you'll find helpful databases that specifically search resources involving the social sciences/social justice. Click a database to explore further.
- CQ Researcher - SAGE This link opens in a new windowReports that explores a single current issue in the news in depth. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology.
- Credo This link opens in a new windowOnline reference library that provides access to a selection of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations in general and subject-specific disciplines. Credo includes interactive mind maps.
- Opposing Viewpoints in Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowOne-stop source for information on social issues.
- Contemporary Women's Issues (CWi) - Gale This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary, full-text database that brings together relevant content from mainstream periodicals, "gray" literature, and the alternative press -- with a focus on the critical issues and events that influence women's lives in more than 190 countries. If the screen appears blank when you try to access this database, please make sure that your browser is not blocking popups.
- LGBTQ+ Source - EBSCO This link opens in a new windowThis database provides full-text coverage for the most important literature regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Offering a variety of scholarly, popular and regional resources, it includes journals, books, magazines and more.
- Black Studies Center - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowBlack Studies Center, from Chadwyck Healey US, brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. It is comprised of several cross-searchable, component databases including: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience; International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP); The Chicago Defender; the Black Literature Index, the HistoryMakers oral history video resource, and Black Abolitionist Papers .