By Anthony Morgano
What’s New?
LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) Studies takes center stage in the newest addition to the Libraries’ research guides. Designed to help connect you to the best available resources in a subject area, research guides are your portal to the most informative databases, authoritative journals and compelling websites to aid you in your research. In addition to acting as an entry-point to all research needs within the growing field of LGBTQ Studies, we want this research guide to serve as a tool for Loyola’s community of LGBTQ students and their allies, connecting them to resources within the campus community and throughout the wider city of Chicago.
Research Resources
Loyola’s Women’s Studies and Gender Studies program is the home of all LGBTQ and Queer Studies at Loyola. In recent years that’s included adding classes like Queer Theory, Masculinity Studies and Transgender studies, but most courses are interdisciplinary and look at LGBTQ issues in the context of psychology, sociology, theology, history, law, education, etc. The research guide follows suit, connecting students to databases, journals, reference sources and more, often broken down to those related directly to LGBTQ and Queer Studies and those focusing on the subjects that are most frequently cross-listed with LGBTQ Studies at Loyola.
Community Connections
We hope this guide will go beyond helping you in your research – we want to connect LGBTQ students, faculty, staff and their allies to the fantastic resources available not only on campus, but throughout the city of Chicago. The “Local Resources” page contains links to Loyola’s queer student groups, PRISM and Rainbow Connection, as well as the Q-Initiatives from Student Diversity & Multicultural Affairs. You’ll also find a link to the LGBTQ books in Lewis Library’s Curriculum Collection – a truly special collection of materials for young readers and educators. The page also guides you to such local gems as Rogers Park’s Leather Archives and Museum, the Gerber/Hart Library and Archies, LGBTQ collections housed at other universities and Legacy Project Chicago, a local effort to illuminate, honor and educate folks on the lives of queer people and their experiences and achievements.
The “News and Websites” page connects you to important local and national news outlets dedicated to the LGBTQ community, such as Chicago’s own Windy City Times, as well as leading LGBTQ organizations at both the national and local levels. This page, and the rest of the guide, is designed to grow and expand to represent the needs of LGBTQ Studies and LGBTQ Loyolans, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with an organization, website, resource, etc. that you’d like to see added to the guide! Suggestions and other comments can be sent to amorgano@luc.edu or cud-ref@luc.edu.
