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About Women's Studies: Core Books (ACRL/WSS)
The Women's Studies Core Books database is a project of the Association of College & Research Libraries — Women's Studies Section. Book titles currently in print are selected by academic librarians who volunteer to maintain a subject area. The project assists Women's Studies librarians and collection development librarians in building Women's Studies collections and can also serve as a guide to instructional faculty in selecting available course readings.
Since 2004, the database has been the method for maintaining and distributing the former "Core Lists in Women's Studies" bibliographies originally developed by the WSS Collection Development Committee and lists books by subject area addressing Women's Studies issues. "Core" titles are generally considered to be books that a library supporting an undergraduate or master's degree in Women's Studies should own. Each list maintainer also selects the titles that are considered "essential" in that subject area. The Core Books database is updated annually in February. Titles no longer in print are dropped for each subject and newly published titles are added.
Use the Search feature to select a subject area for browsing or to perform a basic keyword search of the entire database. The Search page also provides a convenient link to retrieve a list of the most essential titles across all subjects, as well as a link to a list of titles added in the current year. The Guided Search feature allows searching across all topics and the ability to combine searches in different fields in the records.
The ACRL/WSS Core Lists have been hosted on the University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian's Office web site since the early days of the WWW. Prior to web access, the first year of electronic distribution of the bibliographies was through the UW Women's Studies Librarian's Office gopher site. The UW tradition of hosting this ACRL project continues through the support of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center in creating the Core Books database. Please send comments or suggestions to co-editors, Kim Clarke and Carrie Kruse.
UW Digital Collections Center also supports Women's Audio Visuals In English (WAVE), a database maintained by the University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian's Office that lists documentary, experimental, and feature film and video productions by and about women. You can cross-search the WAVE and Core Books databases by following the Databases link within either resource. Click on the Virtual Catalog and select only these two databases (deselect all others) OR create a new topic to include both databases.
Scope Notes for Subject Areas:
All titles have been checked for in-print status and prices in Books in Print or through other sources such as Amazon.com. Please note that price information sometimes varies according to source and can change. While the price listings in the database are useful in determining the general cost of an item, it is advisable to verify availability and price with book vendors. Each subject maintainer has indicated five to ten titles within that subject that are "essential" for purposes of making collection decisions.
African women
This list includes works about African women (mostly SubSaharan Africa) from the fields of art, literary studies, history, political science, sociology, and anthropology. With the exception of a few key anthologies, literary works and narratives are excluded as are single person biographies and autobiographies. Titles about individual countries or focused time periods are included based on their importance to the larger field of African women's studies.
By: Heather Tompkins (htompkin@carleton.edu)
Carleton College
Aging
This list is a compilation of English-language books focused on women and the aging process: physical, emotional, and psychological. It includes serious studies on women and aging, and some personal narratives.
By: Sharon Scott (sharon.scott@ucr.edu)
University of California, Riverside
Agricultural [Development], International
This list is limited to in-print English-language titles on the subject of agriculture in any country except the United States or Canada. Please see the North American Agriculture list for titles about the United States or Canada.
By: Linda Stewart (lgs1@cornell.edu)
Cornell University
Agriculture, U.S.
This list is limited to in-print English-language titles on the subject of agriculture in the United States or Canada. Please see the International Agriculture list for titles about other countries.
By: Linda Stewart (lgs1@cornell.edu)
Cornell University
Anthropology and Archaeology
This list is limited to English-language titles related to anthropology/archaeology and women.
By: Elizabeth M. Wavle (ewavle@elmira.edu)
Elmira College
Previous Compiler: Mary Nofsinger
Previous Compiler: Kimberley Robles Smith
Antiquity
This list is limited to titles on women in antiquity, and primarily contains titles covering exclusively the period before the Middle Ages.
By: Connie Phelps (cphelps@uno.edu)
University of New Orleans
Dance
This list is limited to English-language books in print on women and gender, with a focus on international dance. Works included cover choreography, modern and classical dance on stage, and anthropological aspects of dance. Biographies and studies of specific dancers or other figures with no specific focus on gender are excluded.
By: Diana King (diking@library.ucla.edu)
University of California, Los Angeles
Disabilities
These books are limited to English-language titles which are available at either Amazon.com or on publisher's websites.
By: Daina Dickman (ddickman@sfpl.org)
San Francisco Public Library
Previous Compiler: Toby Matoush
East Asian women
This list is limited to English-language titles on East Asian women published in the United States. Emphasis is on nonfiction and literature anthologies. For titles about Asian-American women, please see the Women of Color core list.
By: Toby Matoush (tmatoush@sjsu.edu)
San Jose State University
Ecofeminism
This subject encompasses the global intersection of feminist economic, environmental, literary, philosophical, political, religious, and spiritual concerns, experiences, and theory. Please see the Religion and Spirituality lists for books covering women in established and nontraditional religious traditions.
By: Betty J. Glass (glass@unr.edu)
University of Nevada, Reno
Previous Compiler: Karen Osborne Pope
Education
This list is limited to books about the experiences of women students and educators in the United States. Please also see the Feminist Pedagogy list.
By: Kim Clarke (clark078@umn.edu)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Previous Compiler: Ginny Orenstein
Family
This list is limited to titles about the social, cultural, political, psychological and economic aspects of families, wives and mothers. Most titles focus on the United States, although some cross-cultural studies have been included.
By: Vanette Schwartz (vmschwa@ilstu.edu)
Illinois State University
Previous Compiler: Diana Shelton
Previous Compiler: Laura Galvan-Estrada
Feminist Movements in the U.S.
This list is limited to titles on feminist movements in the United States. Included are titles covering feminism in the academy, the civil rights movement, the arts, health, suffrage, abolitionism and other arenas of protest and social change. Historical and contemporary movement perspectives are represented across differences of age, race, class and geography.
By: Erin Gratz (egratz@ulv.edu)
University of La Verne
Previous Compiler: Sherri L. Barnes
Previous Compilers: Kathy Kerns and Sally Willson Weimer
Feminist Pedagogy
This list is limited to English-language titles about feminist pedagogy.
By: Kathy Labadorf (kathy.labadorf@uconn.edu)
University of Connecticut
Previous Compiler: Lauren Pressley
Previous Compiler: Amy Robb
Previous Compiler: Lori A. Goetsch
Feminist Theory
This list is limited to English-language titles about feminist theory. Titles are geared toward the general reader and those new to the field. Emphasis is on overview texts and useful anthologies. Recent editions (2005-2006 publications) include feminist theory texts with specialized focus, e.g., feminist theory on global issues, feminist approaches to international law, etc.
By: Cindy Ingold (cingold@illinois.edu)
University of Illinois
Previous Compiler: Jennifer Hootman
Previous Compiler: Aryana Bates
Previous Compiler: Austin Booth
Previous Compiler: Beth Sibley
Film and Television Studies
This list is limited to English-language books focusing on feminist film and television criticism and feminist film and television theory. Most have been published since 1997, but the list includes a few pre-97 "classics" in the field.
By: Shana Higgins (shana_higgins@redlands.edu)
University of Redlands
Previous Compiler: Ellen Broidy
Geography and Travel
This list is limited to English-language titles about women and geography. Emphasis is on non-fiction sources. Includes women's travel anthologies and guides, as well as scholarly sources on feminist geography.
By: Sharon Ladenson (ladenson@msu.edu)
Michigan State University
Previous Compiler: Jennifer Evans
Girls and Girlhood
Books are limited to English-language, non-fiction titles representing the experiences of North American girls, both historically and in contemporary times. Also included are scholarly works on the sociology and psychology of girls and girl culture. First-person narratives from various ethnic groups, races, social classes, and events in American history are intentionally included, but popular titles about how to raise a girl are excluded. A few select titles with an international perspective are included.
By: Colleen Dippold (cdippold@hilbert.edu)
Hilbert College
Previous Compiler: Victoria Shwonek Williamson
Health
This list focuses on titles about women and health or medicine in North America, (with some international coverage). It lists titles that examine sociological, political, historical, theoretical, and philosophical aspects of the subject but includes highly selected titles aimed at practitioners and consumers. See also HIV & AIDS and Mental health.
By: Erin Rushton (erushton@binghamton.edu)
Binghamton University
Previous Compiler: Linda Krikos
History, International
This list is limited to English-language materials relating to the history of women's rights movements from an international perspective. See also the International Politics core list for titles concerning women's rights in countries excluding the United States; for titles pertaining to the United States, see the U.S. History list.
By: Gwen Verkuilen (gverkuilen@anselm.edu)
University of New Orleans
Previous Compiler: Connie Phelps
History, U.S.
This list is limited to titles about women in United States history. Titles about individual women are not included, nor are collections of primary documents originating from individual women or organizations.
By: Jessica Grim (Jessica.Grim@oberlin.edu)
Oberlin College
HIV and AIDS
The following list includes titles about women and HIV or AIDS, primarily in the United States. Please see the Health list also for additional relevant titles.
By: Flora Shrode (flora.shrode@usu.edu)
Utah State University
Labor
This list is limited to English-language books focusing on women and labor in the United States. Due to another core list on this topic, textbooks and works on women in management have been excluded.
By: Jennifer Gilley (jrg15@psu.edu)
Pennsylvania State University
Language
This list focuses on English language books about women, gender and language, including rhetoric and communication styles.
By: Diane Bruxvoort (dbruxvoort@uh.edu)
University of Houston
Previous Compiler: G. Margaret Porter
Previous Compiler: Rachel Murphree
Previous Compiler: Betty Day
Latin American women
This list is limited to titles about women in Latin America. Works exclusively on Mexican-American or Chicana women can be found in the Women of Color core list. All titles were checked in Books in Print or in Libros en Venta for availability. Prices in non-U.S. currency were converted to U.S. dollars by XE.com, an online currency converter. Spanish-language Mexican titles for which availability or price could not be verified have been excluded.
By: Gabrielle Toth (gtoth@csu.edu)
Chicago State University
Previous Compiler: Jennifer Hootman
Previous Compiler: Susan A. Vega Garcia
Previous Compiler: Rachel Cassel Murphree
Law
This list covers issues surrounding women and the area of law including constitutional rights, feminist legal theory and jurisprudence, women lawyers, and sex discrimination. This list is limited mainly to academic titles published in the last ten years with a focus on the United States, although a few titles of international interest have been included.
By: Erica Coe (elcoe@u.washington.edu)
University of Washington, Tacoma
Previous Compiler: Megan Adams Brooks
Lesbian Studies
This list is limited to English-language books in Lesbian Studies, primarily nonfiction. Highly selective, it emphasizes academic titles published in the last ten years across a broad range of topical areas but focusing on the United States. Given space limitations, coverage of related titles in queer/gay studies and biographical works is necessarily limited.
By: Lisa Saywell (lsaywell@library.wisc.edu)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Previous Compiler: Joan Ariel
Literature, British
This list is limited to books written about women authors and representations of women from the Middle Ages to the present time. While critical editions of primary materials are included, contemporary works of fiction by British women writers are not. The works on this list were published after 2001.
By: Piper Martin (piper.martin@wright.edu)
Wright State University
Previous Compiler: Stefanie DuBose
Previous Compiler: Kimberley Robles Smith
Literature, U.S.
This list is limited to Literature of the United States. The emphasis is on anthologies and literary criticism of women authors collected specifically by reason of regional identity, ethnic American heritage, or some other connection related to American Literature by women. This list does not include books by or about individual American women authors.
By: Carrie Kruse (ckruse@library.wisc.edu)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Management
The focus of this list is primarily on issues facing women in management within the corporate environment. Also included are a few background works on the culture of organizations, and a selection of the growing number of works on women as entrepreneurs.
By: Janet Fore (jfore@saintmarys.edu)
St. Mary's College (Notre Dame, Ind.)
Previous Compiler: Kris Gerhard
Previous Compiler: Diane Bruxvoort
Previous Compiler: Beth Mohler
Previous Compiler: Bernice Lacks
Mass Media
This list is limited to English-language titles focusing on women and mass media. Most titles emphasize women in the United States, although some titles of international interest have been included.
By: Shana Higgins (shana_higgins@redlands.edu)
University of Redlands
Previous Compiler: Sara Pete
Previous Compiler: Ruth Dickstein
Mental Health and Psychology
This list is limited to English-language nonfiction titles published in 2000 or beyond about women's mental health and psychology. Integrating current research findings and feminist theory, titles address the biological, psychological, sociological, developmental, and cultural factors affecting women's mental health and/or psychology. The list excludes self-help texts and highly advanced clinicians' resources but does include selective professional texts comprehensible to an academic audience. Emphasizing mental health over mental illness, the list excludes clinical titles strictly about specific mental health problems or personality disorders (e.g., eating disorders, depression, PTSD, sexual trauma recovery, stress, drug addiction, self-mutilation) but includes titles about psychotherapy and counseling that broadly describe current theories, research, and issues relevant to the mental health and psychological well-being of women. Titles address the psychology of gender in service of describing the psychology of women specifically. See also core lists for Sexual Abuse, Aging, Disabilities, and Health.
By: Jill Hollingsworth (hollingj@georgetown.edu)
Georgetown University
Previous Compiler: Kimberley Robles Smith
Middle Eastern women
This list is limited to non-fiction, English language books concentrating on feminism and the social condition of women mainly in Middle Eastern countries but also includes some North African countries. It deals with the history of women in this area only as background for more recent developments and does not include memoirs or biographies.
No updates in 2010.
By: Sue Wortman (swortman@umich.edu)
University of Michigan
Military
This list is limited to English language works that address women in military service. It does not include biographies or autobiographies of individuals.
By: Susan Macicak (macicak@mail.utexas.edu)
University of Texas at Austin
Music
This subject is limited to selected books about women in music (English language) of an academic nature. Excepting general works, bibliographies are mainly excluded.
By: Carrie Kruse (ckruse@library.wisc.edu)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Previous Compiler: Liza Vick
Previous Compiler: Cynthia Johnson
Previous Compiler: Leslie Bennett
Philosophy
This list includes feminist critiques of the philosophy canon – both the development of major branches of philosophy and major philosophers. Also included are overviews of feminist philosophy and works on the history of women in philosophy and how philosophy has regarded women. Titles are in English.
By: Sandy River (sandy.river@ttu.edu)
Texas Tech. University
Previous Compiler: Lisa Roberts
Previous Compiler: Sara Brownmiller
Politics, International
This list is limited to non-fiction, academic titles in English. Coverage is of women and international politics outside the United States, with an emphasis on women's rights, political action, and justice issues. It does not include biographies or autobiographies of individuals.
By: Florence Tang (tang_fy@mercer.edu)
Mercer University
Previous Compilier: Anne Page Mosby
Previous Compiler: Connie Phelps
Previous Compiler: May M. Jafari
Politics, U.S.
This list is limited to books that are concerned with women and politics in the United States. Generally, titles about individual women and collections of primary documents originating from individual women or organizations are not included.
By: Diane Duesterhoeft (dduesterhoeft@stmarytx.edu)
St. Mary's University
Previous Compiler: Susan L. Kendall
Popular Culture
This list is limited to English-language books focusing on feminist popular culture criticism and theory, images of women in popular culture, and women's relationship with popular culture. Due to the existence of another core list on this topic, this list excludes books that are solely about film.
By: Jennifer Gilley (jrg15@psu.edu)
Pennsylvania State University
Reference
This subject is limited to English-language reference books that are general or interdisciplinary in scope. Excepting a few general works, bibliographies are excluded. Recent titles published in the past three years are emphasized.
By: Susan Bennett White (sbwhite@princeton.edu)
Princeton University
Previous Compiler: Staci Elliott
Previous Compiler: Char Booth
Previous Compiler: Joan Ariel
Religion
This list is limited to English-language titles covering women in relation to established or institutional religion from Ancient Greece and Rome to the present day. Please see the Spirituality list for books covering on the topics of feminist spirituality, goddess culture and worship, witchcraft, paganism, and women in new or alternative religions.
By: Jenifer Smith Holman (holman.jeni@uwlax.edu)
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Science
This list includes books providing feminist approaches to and interpretations of science. It also covers books about women scientists and the impact of gender on scientific careers. As there are separate lists for technology and ecofeminism, books that focus primarily on those areas are excluded.
By: Marlene Manoff (mmanoff@MIT.EDU)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Previous Compiler: Jeannie P. Miller
Sexual Abuse
This list is limited to titles about women in the United States.
By: Kim Clarke (clark078@umn.edu)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Previous Compiler: Sara Pete
Previous Compiler: Bernice Redfern
Previous Compiler: Mila Su
Sociology
This list is limited to English-language books on sociology, with an emphasis on feminist perspectives. The majority of titles address how women's experiences in society are affected by issues such as socialization, social inequality, policy, race and ethnicity, the criminal justice system, and social change. See core lists for Family, Girls and Girlhood, Labor, Law, Sexual Abuse, Women of Color, etc., for books that focus on those subjects.
By: Susan Bennett White (sbwhite@princeton.edu)
Princeton University
Previous Compiler: Sherise Kimura
Previous Compiler: Beth Mohler
Previous Compiler: Louise Green
Previous Compiler: Sara Brownmiller
South and Southeast Asian Women
This list includes works about South and Southeast Asian women from the fields of anthropology, history, politics, religion, and sociology. Literary works (with the exception of anthologies), single person biographies, and autobiographies are excluded, as well as books on South and Southeast Asian American women.
By: Colleen Seale (colleens@ufl.edu)
University of Florida
Previous Complier: Sherise Kimura
Spirituality
This list includes titles on the topics of feminist spirituality, goddess culture and worship, witchcraft, paganism, and women in new or alternative religions. Please see the Religion list for books covering women in relation to established or institutional religions.
By: Nancy Lewis (Nancy_Lewis@umit.maine.edu)
University of Maine
Previous Complier: Stacy Russo
Previous Complier: Janet Fore
Previous Compiler: Kris Gerhard
Sports
This list is limited to titles about women and sports. Electronic availability is indicated when known. Single person biographies are excluded.
By: Janet Fore (jfore@saintmarys.edu)
St. Mary's College (Notre Dame, Ind.)
Previous Compiler: Jeannie P. Miller
Technology
This list includes titles about women and/or feminist computer theory and pedagogy, computer use, and cyberspace/identity. The titles are representative of both the United States and international sources.
By: Kelly Barrick (kelly.barrick@yale.edu)
Yale University
Theatre and Dance
This list is limited to English-language books in print on women and gender, with a focus on theatre and dance. This focus includes stage performance, performance studies, the practice of playwriting, and directing. Titles may relate to both historical and contemporary performance, but books concerned with drama only as literary study or biographies/studies of individuals with no specific focus on gender are excluded.
By: Diana King (diking@library.ucla.edu)
University of California, Los Angeles
Transnational Feminism
This list is limited to non-fiction English-language books focusing broadly on transnational feminism and emphasizing anthologies. It includes a few titles that overlap with core lists in Geography and Travel, Feminist Theory, and Women of Color, because they are key titles in transnational feminism.
By: Lalitha Nataraj (lnataraj@chulavista.lib.ca.us)
Chula Vista Public Library
Visual Arts
The Visual Arts subject area is limited to titles about women in the visual arts (primarily painting, sculpture and photography) and concentrates on American and Western arts. Books chosen are either about women artists, or are feminist studies of art/art history. Monographs about individual artists are not included.
By: Terese Heidenwolf (heidenwt@lafayette.edu) University of La Verne
Previous Compiler: Erin Gratz
Previous Compiler: Cynthia A. Johnson
Women of Color
This list is limited to titles on women of color in the United States. Emphasis is on overview texts and useful anthologies. For additional titles about women of color, please see the other core lists in this series, such as the ones for American Literature and U.S. History.
By: Bonnie Ryan (bcryan@syr.edu)
Syracuse University
Previous Compiler: Bernice Redfern
General Editors:
Kim Clarke (clark078@umn.edu)
Carrie Kruse (ckruse@library.wisc.edu)
