Guides: Social Action and Justice (SAAJ): Home

Getting Started

Here are two of many great resources to help get you started.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the most current and controversial issues of the day. Each single-themed, 12,000-word report is researched and written by a seasoned journalist, professionally fact-checked, and footnoted to facilitate further research. A feature called Hot Topics provides shorter reports on 20 of the most popular subjects.

CQ Researcher Tutorial Video on You Tube

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
A complete one-stop source for information on social issues. Users have access to viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, interactive maps, videos, streaming audio, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

From immigration to stem cells to texting-while-driving, Opposing Viewpoints in Context delivers 13,000+ pro/con views, 1,000+ court case overviews, and thousands more topic overviews, biographies and profiles.

This video covers the basics of using Opposing Viewpoints in Context:

Biography in Context

Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical information on more than 528,000 people throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. The database also provides full-text articles plus much more

Some 50,000 new and/or updated biographies are added each year, as well as daily status updates of existing subjects

People who are well known for their writings may also be included in Literature Resource Center

View Streaming Movies

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
AVON is a comprehensive video subscription, delivering almost 70,000 titles including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more.
Kanopy Streaming Service This link opens in a new window
An online streaming video service for universities, Kanopy Streaming offers films, documentaries, and training videos.

Some videos found in Kanopy:

People Like Us - Social Class in America
Class can be harder to spot than racial or ethnic differences, yet in many ways it's the most important predictor of what kind of financial and educational opportunities someone will have in life. But class is a hard subject to talk about in a society like ours, where the idea that all people are created equal and that a poor child can become President is enshrined in national legend.
Ethnic notions
Marlon Riggs' Emmy-winning documentary that takes viewers on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the first time the deep-rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice. Through these images we can begin to understand the evolution of racial consciousness in America.
I Am Not Your Negro - James Baldwin and Race in America
An Oscar-nominated documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO explores the continued peril America faces from institutionalized racism.
Watershed - Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West
Can we find harmony amongst the competing interests of cities, agriculture, industry, recreation, wildlife, and indigenous communities with rights to the water? As the most dammed, dibbed, and diverted river in the world, the Colorado River is a lifeline to expanding populations and booming urban centers that demand water for drinking, sanitation and energy generation, struggling to support thirty million people.

Suggested Subjects

Search the library catalog for:

• civil rights

• cultural pluralism

• discrimination

• distributive justice

• educational equalization

• equality

• human rights

• income distribution

• poor laws and poverty

• prejudices

. prisons

• social change

• social ethics

• social justice

• social movements

• social values

• toleration

• welfare economics

Alternative to Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written collaboratively; anyone with internet access can write and edit Wikipedia articles. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity.

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) is a collection of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources; these trusted, authoritative reference works are available 24/7.

If you need general information about subjects, persons, places etc. then GVRL is a good place to start.

The library catalog will lead you to many individual reference books such as:

Sage Handbook of Inclusion & Diversity in Education
This e-resource examines policy and practice from around the world, with respect to broadly conceived notions of inclusion and diversity within education.

Course Description

Social Action and Justice Colloquium: Do you care about social justice? This is an experiential course that involves service. We will go on field trips to Skid Row, Prisons, Disability Centers, Environmental sites, Museums, and other relevant sites. We will deal with issues that involve sex trafficking, prostitution, gangs, religious discrimination, and issues of race and class. Students will explore strategies for promoting social justice and engage in service learning activities.

Social Action and Justice (SAAJ)

Helpful Library Resources

"Using Google" from KU Libraries

Other Useful Guides

Librarian