Resources

The field of Popular Culture Studies is rich and interdisciplinary, but sometimes also so vast and sprawling as to be intimidating for student researchers. Fortunately there are a number of resources available, both at Ohio State and on the internet, that make it easier to focus in on the answers you are looking for. 

One place to start is with the faculty listed on the People page linked at the navigation bar at the top of each page in this website. Here you will find a list of areas of expertise and interests next to each faculty member's name, giving you access to people here on campus who can help you find the best resources for your interests (and they have written books—on fashion, film, comics, etc.—that you might find helpful as well).

Ohio State University is home to one of the best university libraries in the world—and the best librarians. Because Popular Culture Studies is an interdisciplinary field it is helpful to familiarize yourself with the research methods and resources for various fields, and the Library's Help pages offer useful guides covering a wide range of strategies and resources. Through the library, we also have access to a wide range of online databases that can provide previously unimaginable access to both primary and secondary sources; take the time to familiarize yourself with the wide range of databases at our disposal. 

Ohio State is home to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the best special collections library devoted entirely to the study of comics (and part of a broader consortium of popular culture studies libraries in the midwest). The librarians and staff at the Billy Ireland are experts in popular culture studies research and an invaluable resource for faculty and staff at Ohio State and beyond.

At the Rare Books & Manuscripts collection in the Thompson Library on campus students and researches have access to a remarkable collection of pulps, as well as the host of popular genre literature (19th-20th-century) embedded within the William Charvat Collection of American Fiction. They have also recently added the Mysterious Press Archive to our holdings, giving Ohio State one of the richest archive of materials related to the field of mystery/detective fiction publishing anywhere. Additionally, the Rare Books collection has an invaluable collection of cheap and popular print from the Reformation period.