Getting started!
Welcome to the research guide for the University Preparatory Program! On this page you will find resources that focus on U.S. Culture, Geography, and the Local History of Boston and New England.
You can get started by searching JumboSearch for your topic. Remember to limit to "full-text available online" (in the left column of your results list) to find online books, articles, and much more.
- JumboSearchLarge, but not complete, cross-search of the Tufts Catalog and many subscription article databases. Great place to start your research.
U.S. Culture
- Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual HistoryThe Encyclopedia covers not only historic periods such as the Colonial era and the Reagan era, but also looks at cultural groups such as the working class and cultural institutions and forms such as the university and cinema.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias: American HistoryComprehensive online reference guide to all aspects of American history.
- African American AlmanacThe most complete reference of African American culture devoted to illustrating and demystifying the often lost history of black life in America.
- The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making HistoryReference book that illustrates the important events and figures surrounding the suffrage movement; literature, art, and music; business leaders and breakthroughs; political history and office holders; advances in science and medicine; and other vital topics.
These resources will help you find more relevant information about your topic. Check out this guide for tips on effective searching!
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new windowThis database covers all aspects of American history, including cultural history.
- History Vault This link opens in a new windowIncludes primary source collections from a variety of periods in American history, especially African American history.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowIncludes scholarship published in more than 1,400 of the highest-quality academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, including history and cultural history.
The American Dream: A Cultural HistoryCall Number: eBookTracing the history of the phrase in popular culture, this book gives readers a field guide to the evolution of U.S. national identity over the last eighty years
Moral Problems in American Life - New Perspectives on Cultural HistoryCall Number: eBookThis volume surveys the moral landscape of the American past from slavery to the Vietnam War.
Inequality and Poverty in Contemporary American CultureCall Number: eBookSnalyzes the discourse generated by pundits, politicians, and artists to examine how poverty and the income gap is framed through specific modes of representation.
Geography
- Dictionary of GeographyCovering all aspects of physical and human geography, this dictionary is an essential guide to students at all levels.
- Geography of the WorldAt the start of each regional section there is a map showing the whole area, as well as sections that describe the peoples who live there. Each country, or group of countries, then has an individual map that shows its cities, towns, and main geographical features. This is followed by the country sections that go into detail about life in that country. The reference section can be used to find out more about subjects of general interest, such as world religions or political systems.
These resources will help you find more relevant information about your topic. Check out this guide for tips on effective searching!
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides coverage in areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowThis is a multidisciplinary database that covers many topics, including geography.
- Gale Academic OneFileThis database provides extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature, and other subjects.
Encyclopedia of GeographyCall Number: eBookProvides a comprehensive and useful summary of the state of geography in the early 21st century.The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography
Call Number: eBookSixty-six leading economists and geographers from around the world investigate the rival theories and perspectives that have sustained the development of economic geography.
Geography and History: Bridging the DivideCall Number: eBookGeography and History examines comprehensively the interdependence of the two disciplines.
Local History: Boston & New England
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias: American HistoryComprehensive online reference guide to all aspects of American history, including the history of Boston and the New England region.
- When in Boston: A Time Line and AlmanacCovers Boston's earliest history through the mid-1970s.
- Historical Dictionary of New EnglandThis dictionary has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, places, institutions, and events in New England.
These resources will help you find more relevant information about your topic. Check out this guide for tips on effective searching!
- America: History & LifeScholarly literature on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada.
- Academic Search PremierThis multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles.
- Gale Academic OneFileThis database provides extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature, and other subjects.
Eminent BostoniansCall Number: eBookOffers a personal selection of entertaining and enlightening brief lives of notable residents of the city of Boston.
People of the Wachusett: Greater New England in History and Memory, 1630–1860Call Number: eBookIn People of the Wachusett, the history of the New England town becomes the cultural history of America's first frontier.
A People's History of the New BostonCall Number: eBookThis book provides a grassroots perspective on the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, when residents of the city's neighborhoods engaged in an era of activism and protest unprecedented in Boston since the American Revolution.
Eden on the Charles: The Making of BostonCall Number: eBookA richly textured cultural and social history of the development of nineteenth-century Boston, this book provides a new environmental perspective on the creation of America's first cities.
