Chicano and Latino Studies is a broad interdisciplinary field, and you will probably engage in different kinds of research, depending on the class and the assignment. For one assignment, you might need to research art or film, for another, you might look at political or legal issues, and for another, you might be researching historical information. This interdisciplinary nature is what makes CALS so exciting to study! But it can make understanding your assignment and finding sources a little tricky. What works for one assignment might not work for another. 

The librarians at SSU are happy to work with you, whatever form your research takes. You can schedule an appointment with your subject librarian, chat using our 24/7 chat service, or even drop by the research help desk on the 2nd floor to see if a librarian is available to chat. 

This guide can point you to some good resources to get started. 

The kinds of research that scholars in Chicano and Latino Studies engage in varies widely. But whatever form it takes, research is using information to understand the world better. Researchers analyze information, whether it be statistics, oral histories, art, surveys, experimental data, literature, or observations of the world around them, to make arguments about how the world works (and often, how we can make it work better). 

No matter what kind of data or research methods are used, all researchers are engaged in an ongoing scholarly conversation. Whatever topic you are researching, there are probably other people out there who are interested in the same ideas. When you write a research paper or put together a presentation, you are engaging with those people and their ideas. The first step in any research project is understanding what that conversation is all about. 

The other pages in this guide will help you get familiar with the conversations in your field.