Ethnic Studies
Research Topics
General Ethnic Studies Topics
- Migration Stories and Oral Histories
- Social Movements and Student Civic Engagement
- Youth-Led Participatory Action Research
- Narratives and Dominant Narratives
- Trade, Economic Exchange, Geopolitical Connections and Culture
- Justice, equity, belonging and democracy
African American Studies Topics
- Classical Africa / Civilizations
- African American Innovators
- U.S. Housing Inequality and Redlining
- #BlackLivesMatter and Social Change
- Great migration and California, Cultural and Ethnic Ties
- Afrofuturism
LatinX / ChicanX Studies Topics
- Classical Americas / Civilizations
- LatinX Innovators
- Chicano Movement
- Migration, Resistance and Organization
- Undocumented Immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador and Beyond
- California and the Americas, Cultural and Ethnic Ties
Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies Topics
- Classical AAPI / Civilizations
- AAPI Innovators
- Model Minority Myths
- #StopAsianHate and Social Change
- Chinese Railroad Workers
- Japanese Internment
- Filipino and Korean American Experience
- Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong and Lao migrations
- Indian American and South Asian Experiences
- California and Pacific Rim, Cultural and Ethnic Ties
Native American Studies Topics
- Classical Native American / First Nations / Civilizations
- Native American Innovators
- Climate Change, Ecological Restoration and Native American Wisdom
- Land Acknowledgements Social History
- Native American Mascots
- Museums, Artifacts and Repatriation
Library Subscription Databases
A general encyclopedia is a useful starting place to get familiar with a topic. Search for a specific ethnic group (e.g. "African Americans") or for "social movements". Try synonyms (e.g. "social change").
A comprehensive research database. Search thousands of journals, magazines, newspapers, videos, reports, and more in many subject areas: education, humanities, psychology, science, social sciences, and news.
Search tips:
"Change databases" to focus your search on the social sciences.
Use the "advanced search" and subject headings to construct your search.
Use the facets ("full-text", "magazine") to refine.
Other Libraries
Primary Sources
Digitized primary source documents from libraries, archives and museums of California. Visit the exhibits for your research papers! Ask your librarian for help searching the Collections (archives.) For example:
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA) [Calisphere]
Digital Public Library of America
A catalog of primary source material from public libraries across the United States. Example:
Digital Public Library of America: Hispanics
Includes images, texts, and video clips.
Library of Congress Minority Studies Research Guides
Research guides to materials on specific ethnic groups including resources at the Library of Congress and beyond. Example:
Books / eBooks
Search the catalog for...
a reference work to get started
ethnic group name e.g. "native americans"
Reference Works
Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience
100 greatest African Americans : a biographical encyclopedia
The ABC-CLIO companion to the Civil Rights Movement
Black women in America.
50 events that shaped American Indian history : an encyclopedia of the American mosaic.
Inside the Native American rights movement
Asian American histories of the United States
The myth of the model minority : Asian Americans facing racism
History of Asian Americans : exploring diverse roots
Internment : Japanese Americans in World War II
The Hispanic struggle for social justice : the Hispanic experience in the Americas
Harvest of empire : a history of Latinos in America
Portraits of Hispanic American heroes
Islamic beliefs, practices, and cultures
Open Education Textbooks and Teacher Resources
New Directions in Chicanx and Latinx Studies (OER Textbook)
Many of the museums listed in this guide have lesson plans to accompany the primary source material on their websites and in their archives.
Websites and other resources
General
Also publishes the Learning for justice magazine
PBS Learning Media: Who, Me? Biased?: Understanding Implicit Bias. Challenge yourself to the peanut butter, jelly and racism lesson.
KQED Youth Media Challenge Showcase. Searchable database of recordings: first person personal narratives, youth challenge calls to action and informational recordings.
Angel Island Immigration Station. Resources: Books, Poetry, Photos, Film and Video. The Vault includes digitized primary source material and physical administrative records.
African American
Asian American & Pacific Islander
California State Railroad Museum Digital Exhibits. Chinese Worker's Experience Exhibit and Descendants Stories Exhibit
Chinese American Historical Museum (San Jose, CA)
LatinX / Hispanic
Native American / Indigenous
First Nations Collection [southern Oregon]
Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian Photographic Images
California Indian Museum and Cultural Center (S.F. Presidio, CA)
Acknowledgement:
Resources and descriptions were compiled from the California Department of Education, the American Historical Society and CA Community College libraries among others.