LibGuides: UGS 302: Art & The Epidemic / Simons: Choose and develop a topic

Choosing a topic is research

The following resources are robust alternatives to wikipedia - they will give you overviews, help you to identify narrow controversies and stakeholders (who is impacted and who is coming up with solutions) as well as alternate keywords and subject-specific jargon.

SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new window
I like this one for subjects like education, psychology, sociology, health and LGBTQ studies.
Platform for Sage eBook and eReference content, including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more. Only select ebook titles purchased by the UT Libraries are fully accessible.
For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Covers most subject areas.
Updated daily. Provides full text access to differing points of view on current social issues. Brings together viewpoint articles, contextual topic overviews, government and organizational statistics, biographies of social activists, court cases, profiles of government agencies and special interest groups, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as links to more than 1,800 reviewed and subject-indexed web sites.

Encyclopedia of AIDS by Thomas J. Hope (Editor-In-Chief); Douglas Richman (Editor-In-Chief); Mario Stevenson (Editor-In-Chief)
ISBN: 1493971026
Publication Date: 2020-01-01
Encyclopedia of AIDS by Raymond A. Smith (Editor)
ISBN: 0203305493
Publication Date: 1998-08-27
Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues by Ph.D., Joseph P Byrne (Editor)
ISBN: 1282524372
Publication Date: 2008-01-01

List from your assignment prompt

Approaches to HIV/AIDS outside the U.S.
HIV/AIDS education programs
U.S. policies after 1994
Organizations formed to address HIV epidemic (Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Terrence Higgins Trust, etc)
A particular piece of art created in response to HIV/AIDS (The Normal Heart, Rent, Dallas Buyer’s Club, Pose, Philadelphia, Gia, Longtime Companion, etc) and critical response to that piece
Very Special TV episodes about HIV/AIDS
Celebrity responses to HIV/AIDS (Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, et al)
PrEP
Ryan White Act
Needle exchange programs
Condom distribution in public venues
Blood donation policies
World AIDS Day
PEPFAR
Or any other area of interest!

Topic to Thesis Statement - How?

Univeristy Writing Center - Thesis Statements

You cannot write a thesis statement until you have finished your research.

Why?

Because a thesis statement:

is contestable - you are making an argument that needs to be proved - you are seeking to prove this argument with evidence you will find in your research.
introduces your reader to a new perspective - how do you say something new if you don't know what has come before?

But I really want to write my thesis statement now, librarian.

I recommend that you do research alongside the drafting of an outline and the crafting of a thesis statement. As you learn more about your topic and as you consider the sources you plan to use, your project will begin to come into focus. How do you plan to present your argument and your evidence? Consider the outline and the thesis as living documents that you will revise. Try NoodleTools (see page at left).