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Each month, Bloomsbury Collections offers free access to scholarly and reference content exploring a relevant topic. Explore past topics below and be sure to check back each month to discover more resources from our ever-expanding library.
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Bloomsbury Collections is celebrating Women’s History Month with a walk through some of the social and political movements that have helped pave the road to gender equality: from the pioneers of suffrage, to the architects of second-wave feminism, to the first heroes of the #MeToo movement.
Scroll down to take a tour of the movements and individuals committed to protecting women’s voices and freedoms.
The fight to receive voting rights was an arduous one, with a range of advocates lending their voices to the debate. One of those voices belonged to Helen Keller, who overcame deafness and blindness from birth to become a writer, reformer, and suffragist. Her essay “Why Men Need Suffrage,” first published in the New York Call on October 17, 1913, is an astute example of the suffragist perspective presented at a time when such a view was considered controversial.
This essay is part of Women’s Suffrage: The Complete Guide to The Nineteenth Amendment, a comprehensive collection of primary sources, references, and analyses for researchers exploring this vital movement.
Current debates about birth control can be surprisingly volatile, especially given the near-universal use of contraception among American and British women. In her book Conceived in Modernism: The Aesthetics and Politics of Birth Control, Aimee Armande Wilson examines these debates through a literary lens, considering the different ways modernist writers from Virginia Woolf to Octavia Butler view the importance of physical autonomy for women.
In this sample chapter, Wilson looks at Butler’s novel Dawn, which compels readers to see birth control as a necessary precondition of fundamental personhood.
Click here to explore Conceived in Modernism: The Aesthetics and Politics of Birth Control.
While first-wave feminism addressed suffrage and fundamental issues of equality such as voting and property rights, second-wave feminism began in the early 1960s, focusing on issues of family, reproductive rights, and equality in the workplace. At the core of this movement was Betty Friedan and her seminal book The Feminine Mystique, which challenged existing beliefs that women could only find fulfillment as wives and mothers.
The sample essay from Feminist Moments: Reading Feminist Texts, a collection examining pivotal tests in the history of feminist thought, explores Friedan’s book and the influences that shaped its thesis.
Click here to explore Feminist Moments: Reading Feminist Texts.
Many historians say that the world of sports remains the last frontier when it comes to gender equality. Authors Adrienne N. Milner and Jomills Henry Braddock II advocate for the increase of gender comingling in professional sports and school athletics in their book Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not Equal, examining the landscape of sports through both historical and sociological perspectives.
In this provided chapter, Milner and Braddock examine the history and impact of the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Click here to explore Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not Equal.
While it is widely believed that the #MeToo Movement began in 2017 with the public realization of filmmaker Harvey Weinstein’s mistreatment of women, the movement actually got its start a decade earlier in 2006, when Tarana Burke, founder and director of the Just Be Inc. youth organization, heard a young girl share a traumatic abuse experience in an all-girl group bonding session. Since then, the now famous phrase “Me Too” has galvanized women and allies who have intensified the fight against sexual harassment and assault.
This sample chapter from Laurie Collier Hillstrom’s book The #MeToo Movement offers researchers an overview of the movement’s evolution within a historical context, including a look at the criticism and debates it has provoked.
Click here to explore The #MeToo Movement.
The artistic and cultural contributions made by African Americans throughout U.S. history cover vast territory. To celebrate Black History month, Bloomsbury Collections offers a selection of free-to-read chapters drawing from history, film, literary studies, music, and fashion, examining the impact of African American cultural changemakers including Alain Locke, Zora Neale Hurston, and Sam Cooke.
Scroll down to read excerpts from resources ideal for student researchers and scholars alike.
The history of intellectual thought in America includes contributors too often overlooked in the past, including women of color. Covering the history and contributions of black women intellectuals from the late 19th century to the present, Bury My Heart in a Free Land gives voice to the passion and insights of black women intellectuals on various arenas in American life—from the social sciences, history, and literature to politics, education, religion, and art.
In this sample chapter, Nicole Anae examines the legacy of Zora Neale Hurston, chronicling her literary contributions to intellectual thought, notably in the realm of anthropology.
Click here to explore Bury My Heart in a Free Land: Black Women Intellectuals in Modern U.S. History.
U.S. History’s Harlem Renaissance saw sweeping social, cultural, and political reforms, as black Americans fled the feudal South and used Harlem as a place to nurture intellectual and artistic pursuits. In Harlem: The Crucible of Modern African American Culture, author Lionel C. Bascom examines the established image of Harlem during the Renaissance period—roughly between 1917 and the 1960s—as “heaven” for migrating African Americans.
Read this provided chapter which profiles Alain Locke, the man some have called the architect of this important historical era, from the naming and promotion of the New Negro Movement to the popularization of America’s great Jazz Age.
Click here to explore Harlem: The Crucible of Modern African American Culture.
From Elizabeth Keckly’s designs as a freewoman for Abraham Lincoln’s wife to flamboyant clothing showcased by Patrick Kelly in Paris, Black designers have made major contributions to American fashion. However, many of their achievements have gone unrecognized. From enslaved 18th-century dressmakers to 20th-century “star” designers , the subjects of Black Designers in American Fashion show how Black designers helped build America’s global fashion reputation even while facing extreme adversity.
Through an examination of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century seamstresses and modistes such as Harriet Jacobs, Elizabeth Keckly, and Ann Lowe, this provided chapter illuminates the connections between needlework and political activism.
Click here to explore Black Designers in American Fashion.
Known by many as the “King of Soul,” singer/songwriter Sam Cooke stands tall among African American musicians whose impact changed the landscape of music. Over time, Cooke’s live album Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, has come to be recognized as one of the most important live soul albums ever made. As part of Bloomsbury Academic’s 33 1/3 series, this book examines the musician and the album, placing it in the context of musical history as well as Cooke’s life as a writer and an agent of social change.
In this introductory chapter, author Colin Fleming reveals his own discovery of Cooke as a young listener, offering a timeline of songs and events leading up to the seminal live album.
Click here to explore Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963.
The history of African American men in film is complicated at best, with dehumanizing depictions of black male characters dominating twentieth-century cinema. In her book Black Hollywood: From Butlers to Superheroes, the Changing Role of African American Men in the Movies, author and historian Kimberly Fain examines the history of film decade by decade, both exploring problematic character portrayals and exploitation of black performers, and celebrating the success stories that emerged as social activism has reshaped the cinematic landscape.
In this chapter, Fain offers a tour the turbulent 1960s, analyzing the impact of performers like Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte whose roles reflected changes inspired by the Civil Rights Movement.
Click here to explore Black Hollywood: From Butlers to Superheroes, the Changing Role of African American Men in the Movies.
Embracing the new year often means committing to a new set of healthy habits—at least for as long as we can. Sometimes the most beneficial and long-lasting changes we can make are the ones that address our mental and emotional health: whether we’re analyzing our relationship with food, conditioning ourselves towards healthier relationships, navigating social anxiety, or even learning from our dreams.
This month, Bloomsbury Collections offers a selection of free-to-read chapters from its vast library of Health & Wellbeing titles, with a focus on insights from leaders in cognitive and social psychology. Scroll down to read excerpts from resources ideal for student researchers and scholars alike.
Every year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions about food—both what we consume, and how much. But the best way to change our eating habits is to understand our relationship with food itself. A Guide to the Psychology of Eating, by Leighann Chaffee and Stephanie da Silva, illuminates contemporary eating topics, including the scope and consequences of overnutrition, societal focus on dieting and body image, controversies in food policy, and culture-inspired cuisine.
In this sample chapter, “This Is Your Brain on Food: The Biopsychology of Eating,” the authors take readers through a menu of insights about how biological hunger and satiation affect our thoughts and emotions.
Do your New Year’s resolutions include spending less time online? Most of us are aware that too much time in the digital space can be unhealthy, but to change our online behavior, it’s vital to understand the psychological effects of digital addiction to the internet, social media, online games, and other forms of technology. In her book Digital Detox: Why Taking a Break from Technology Can Improve Your Well-Being, author and professor Bernadette H. Schell offers student researchers a psychological context for examining online addiction, as well as its remedies.
This provided chapter uses case studies to categorize different types of internet addiction, examining causes, symptoms, and effects.
Click here to explore Digital Detox: Why Taking a Break from Technology Can Improve Your Well-Being.
Navigating social anxiety can be an exhausting journey for young and old alike. Researchers exploring the condition can gain insight from Vera Sonja Maass’ Understanding Social Anxiety: A Recovery Guide for Sufferers, Family, and Friends. This powerful book provides comprehensive coverage of social anxiety disorder by covering its history, explaining the symptoms and root causes, and presenting information on how key changes to the thought process can help sufferers find relief and be more comfortable in the modern world.
Read Maass’ introduction to learn more about the history of social anxiety’s diagnosis as an officially recognized disorder, as well as what causes are often found at anxiety’s core.
Whether romantic, platonic, or professional, our relationships are shaped by thoughts and emotion patterns passed down through generations. In Living on Automatic: How Emotional Conditioning Shapes Our Lives and Relationships, psychiatrists Homer B Martin and Christine B.L. Adams shed light on the role emotional conditioning can play in the relationships we develop, as well as how we can “decondition” ourselves to ensure that our relationships are healthier and more rewarding.
In this provided chapter, Martin and Adams examine seven effects emotional conditioning often has on our relationships, from impairing our judgment to stereotyping others.
Why do we dream, and what do our dreams mean? Examining our thoughts and emotions through the lens of dream psychology can be an effective way of understanding ourselves. In An Introduction to the Psychology of Dreaming, Kelly Bulkeley draws from neuroscientific research as well as theories from formative experts including Freud and Jung to consider how our dreams function and what they can reveal.
This free-to-read chapter sets a context for beginning and advanced psychology student researchers by addressing fundamental questions about the formation, function, and interpretation of dreams.
Click here to explore An Introduction to the Psychology of Dreaming.
While religions inspire faith and offer guidance to followers around the world, the subject of religious studies allows researchers to explore questions about religion’s role in history and modern society. This month, Bloomsbury Collections offers selections taking cross-disciplinary approaches to the analysis of religion’s impact: from symbolism that has shaped Judaism’s past and present, to the role of feminism and female deities in early history, to a debate about the role of Eastern religion in the evolution of pop music
Scroll down for free-to-read excerpts that present a sampling of Bloomsbury Collections’ Religious Studies library.
Covering secret societies, mysterious ancient traditions, and the often-mistaken history of the world's religious symbols, Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs takes readers on a tour through the fascinating world of religious symbolism and reveals the most mysterious and misunderstood facets of different religions from early history to the present.
In this free-to-read chapter, readers learn more the meaning of symbols that have shaped different sects of Judaism throughout history, from the chai symbol, to the ceremonial menorah, to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
In a world where religious beliefs influence political and social views around the world, Human Rights and the World's Major Religions is invaluable to researchers in religious studies. This updated one-volume edition of the celebrated five-volume set offers readers a comprehensive examination of the way the world's five major faiths—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—view and have viewed human rights from ancient times to the present.
In this chapter, author and scholar William H. Brackney explores the history of religious liberty within Western Christianity, examining the interpretation of the term “religious freedom” through time.
Click here to explore Human Rights and the World's Major Religions.
Throughout world history, different religions have held ranging views regarding the roles and rights of women. In Feminism and Religion, editors and renowned subject experts Michele A. Paludi and J. Harold Ellens lead readers through a detailed exploration of the feminist methods, issues, and theoretical frameworks that have made women central, not marginal, to religions around the world.
In this provided essay, Maija Jespersen takes readers back to the early period of human history when female deities were worshipped as powerful natural forces, from the Paleolithic age to the goddess-worshipping cultures of Egypt and Greece.
The idea of miracles gives hope to believers with events that are viewed as the intersection of the divine and the mundane. Miracles have shaped world history and continue to influence us through their presence in films, television, novels, and popular culture. Miracles: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Supernatural Events from Antiquity to the Present provides a multidisciplinary approach to more than 150 miraculous phenomena that have shaped humanity’s faith and beliefs from 1500 BCE to the present day.
Read anthology editor Patrick J. Hayes’ introduction, which sets a context by defining miracles within historical, theological, philosophical, and scientific settings.
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Popular Music combines research in religious studies, theology, musicology, and sociology to present scholarly insights into the relationship between popular music and different faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and more. This cross-disciplinary resource also focuses on individual music genres, from blues and jazz to rap and hip hop.
In this essay, editor Christopher Partridge dives into the global phenomenon of K-pop, analyzing the ongoing debate about whether Eastern religions like Neo-Confucianism have shaped the genre’s evolution.
Click here to explore The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Popular Music.
At ranging levels of education, humanities programs are integrating more study of indigenous cultures and the welcome decolonization of research itself. This month, Bloomsbury Collections proudly offers authoritative content exploring a range of indigenous cultures around the world, including Native Americans, Inuit communities of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and the Aboriginal and Māori cultures of Oceania.
Scroll down to discover free-to-read chapters ranging from the preservation of indigenous languages and cultures, to the growing genre of indigenous cinema, to an excerpt from Linda Tuhiwahi Smith’s formative work on decolonizing research in the field of Indigenous studies.
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