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Cultural Studies

A selective guide to resources in Cultural Studies at Queen's University Library

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Why use dictionaries?
Dictionaries are helpful in giving you a better understanding of topics, words, and concepts. 

The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought (online)
H41 .B53 2003 (print, Stauffer Library)

The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism (online)

A Dictionary of Critical Theory (online) 

A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical theory (online)

The Icon Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought (print, Stauffer Library)

New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd ed (online)
REF AG5.H757 2002 (print, Stauffer Library)

 

Why use Encyclopedias?
Encyclopedias are valuable resources to get a quick overview of new topics or as a starting point in your research process. This includes knowing key people and events or dates and terminology. 

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
Comprehensive survey of sociological theories, research, definitions and bibliographies. 

This free, online encyclopedia includes substantial essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from Erotica & Pornography to Ageism to Women's Liberation Movement. Each entry is signed. Also includes biographical and literary entries in the Arts and Literature sections, respectively.
Encyclopedias 
 
The first comprehensive encyclopedia for the growing fields of media and communication studies.
 
Encyclopedia of Postmodernism
With three cross-referenced sections, the volume is easily accessible to readers with specialized research agendas and general interests in contemporary cultural, historical, literary and philosophical issues.

Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media
This encyclopedia includes around 250 essays on the varied experiences of social movement media across the world in the 20th and 21st centuries. It will also contain thematic essays on selected issues such as human rights media, indigenous people's media and environmentalist media, and on key concepts widely used in the field.
 
Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) History
This encyclopedia covers LGBTQ topics in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, as well as North America, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, using film, literature, human rights, politics, landmark legislation, activism, the arts, language, sports, and historical events as points of entry into the content.
 
Comprehensive overview of the social and behavioural sciences.
 
Searchable database of dictionaries and other subject-specific reference works.