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UGS 302: Nostalgia and Popular Culture / Beronja

Develop your topic and a search strategy

Choosing a topic is research

So far, you may have a very broad topic. The way to narrow it down and find something researchable is to see what the conversation is around your topic.

Here is a broad topic idea: nostalgia and records

This is not a thesis statement - I can't write that until I do research.

What do I need to know in addressing my topic? This is a creative process and relies on your curiosity.

Search in the below resources and pull together any narrower topics and keywords you might want to investigate.

Now, how do experts/scholars talk about your topic?

Your next step is to identify experts - who might care about your topic, or who could offer answers to your questions?

When you search for your topic on the library website, you are able to see the top disciplines that are discussing your topic and you can narrow the perspective down:

the left side menu has a section where the disciplines represented are listed

Your next steps are to learn how these experts talk about your topic and what specific controversies you can narrow down to. Take keywords from titles, abstracts and other article descriptors:

nostalgia           

records Why would someone be nostalgic?  
vintage vinyl memory
memory lps culture
retro music identity
  analog consumerism
  legacy consumption
    marketing
    community

Topics suggested by your professor

As is stated on your Canvas site, you may come up with a topic outside of these suggestions,

Nostalgia for the American Frontier 

Nostalgia for the Cold War 

Nostalgia for the 00s,1990s/1980s/1970s/60s/50s/40s/30s...  

Immigrant Nostalgia/Nostalgia for Homeland

Nostalgia in African-American culture 

Nostalgia and Fashion/Retro/Vintage

Nostalgia and Pop Music

Nostalgia and Television

Nostalgia and Marketing 

Nostalgia and Contemporary Politics 

Nostalgia and Social Media 

Queer Nostalgia

Yugonostalgia (nostalgia for former Yugoslavia)

Ostalgie (nostalgia for the former German Democratic Republic)

Nostalgia for the USSR/former Soviet Union

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