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Libraries Indiana University Bloomington

Gender Studies

The study of gender as a fundamental category of social and cultural analysis.

Open Access Resources

Open access logo.Open Access (OA) refers to a series of principles and practices through which research is distributed online with no institutional/monetary barriers and with full reuse rights. Traditionally, open access has referred to materials published by peer-reviewed journals, but the term can apply to all research outputs including books, monographs, theses/dissertations, conference papers/proceedings, and more. The Open Access movement also encompasses open data, open educational resources, and open science. Here, we have gathered a number of open access resources, including traditional peer-reviewed content along with digital collections, reference materials, and other sources available free-of-charge.

Video: Open Access Explained! Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics) (2012). 

See the following links to learn more:

This box contains a selection of Open Access Gender Studies academic, peer-reviewed journals. For additional gender studies-specific open access resources, see the websites linked below:

For additional general open access resources, see the following:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Extensive index of diverse open access journals from around the world, driven by a growing community, committed to ensuring quality content is freely available online for everyone.
  • OER (Open Educational Resources) Commons OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum.
  • OAPEN Online library of open access books
  • Sciendo Search Open Access journals in your subject of interest

Encyclopedias

Bibliographies

The bibliographies below can help offer an overview of the scholarship in a field and assist you in identifying relevant sources. These are lists that will not usually provide access to the named texts.

This box contains a small selection of Open Access books. If you are looking for additional selections, consult the links below:

General

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies

Databases

For our extensive list of Image Databases and Stock Photo websites, see the Image and Audiovisual Resources tab.

Image Databases

Stock Photos

Inclusive Stock Photos

Professional Organizations, Awards, and Conferences

Sampling of research centers and other organizations devoted to the study of and sharing of resources regarding gender and sexuality studies:

See Yale's list of Other Institutions’ Research Centers, Institutes, & Libraries on Gender for more.

Lists of associations:

Selected associations:

  • American Studies Association Committee on Gender and Sexuality Studies  Seeks to support innovative scholarship at the intersections of sexuality, race, class, and gender with an emphasis on interdisciplinary, indigenous, and transnational approaches.
  • Association of Black Women Historians  The ABWH constitution outlines four organizational goals: to establish a network among the membership; to promote Black women in the profession; to disseminate information about opportunities in the field; and to make suggestions concerning research topics and repositories.
  • Association for Women in Psychology  AWP is a diverse feminist community of psychologists and allied professionals invested in the integration of personal, professional, and political power in the service of social justice.
  • Berkshire Conference of Women Historians  Founded in 1930, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (Berks) promotes scholarship and supports the activities of women in the historical profession.
  • Coordinating Council for Women in History  Connects women historians throughout the world from all career stages, supporting students and emerging scholars through prizes, mentoring programs, and workshops.
  • International Federation for Research in Women's History  (Federation Internationale Pour la Recherche en Histoire des Femmes) was founded in April 1987. The Aim of IFRWH/FIRHF is to encourage and coordinate research in all aspects of women's history at international level, by promoting exchange of information and publication and by arranging and assisting in arranging large-scale international conferences as well as more restricted and specialized meetings. National Committees serve as liaison between communities of researchers and the Federation.
  • The National Women's Studies Association  Established in 1977, the National Women's Studies Association has as one of its primary objectives promoting and supporting the production and dissemination of knowledge about women and gender through teaching, learning, research and service in academic and other settings.
  • Women's Classical Caucus  The WCC is one of the longest-serving affiliate organizations of the Society for Classical Studies, the principal society in North America for the study of ancient Greek and Roman languages, literatures, and civilizations. Founded in 1972, the mission of the WCC  is to promote gender-informed perspectives in the study and teaching of all aspects of ancient Mediterranean cultures, particularly in the study of women, gender, and intersectionality in classical antiquity. The WCC supports scholars from all genders and from historically underrepresented groups (including women, non-binary identified, people of color, trans people, first-generation students, people with disabilities, etc.).
  • Women's History Interest Group (WHIG)  For many years in the 1990s, Women Historians of the Midwest (WHOM) members attending the Northern Great Plains History Conference facilitated networking among scholars, public historians, and publishers, as well promoted the inclusion of sessions and papers that addressed the histories of women and gender.
  • 9to5  Today 9to5 is one of the largest, most respected national membership organizations of working women in the U.S., dedicated to putting working women’s issues on the public agenda.

Indiana University GradGrants Center (GGC) 

  • The GradGrants Center (GGC) supports Indiana University graduate students as they find and secure sponsored grants, fellowships, and awards from external sources that are essential to their academic, research, and professional pursuits. Through extensive access to external funding opportunities for all disciplines, the GGC constitutes an invaluable resource and educational tool to both IU’s graduate student community and the University as a whole.
  • See also:

National Women's Studies Association Awards

  • Each year, NWSA in coordination with different NWSA caucuses and publications offers multiple awards for people who are current members of NWSA. Applications will be accepted online during the application submission process.

Association of Black Women Historians Awards 

  • The ABWH offers prizes and honors that celebrate and acknowledge exceptional scholarship on women of African descent and historical issues that consider intersections of race and gender
  • Undergraduate, graduate, and publication awards are available

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Fellowships and Grants 

  • Since 1888, AAUW has been one of the largest funders of women’s graduate education, investing in women who go on to change the world

The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Awards 

  • The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians awards two annual book and article prizes

Coordinating Council for Women in History Awards 

  • The CCWH offers six awards for graduate students, articles, service, and scholarship

Sarah Pettit Doctoral Fellowship in Lesbian Studies (Yale University)

  • The Sarah Pettit Doctoral Fellowship in Lesbian Studies is a biennial dissertation-writing workshop for a cohort of doctoral fellows.
  • From 2006 to 2014, the Sarah Pettit Fellowship was run as a biennial fellowship providing a year of support to a graduate student, from an institution other than Yale, who was writing a dissertation in LGBT Studies, with lesbian studies as its focus. From 2016 onwards, the format changed to a biennial dissertation-writing workshop for scholars working on select themes in lesbian studies.

Women's Classical Caucus Scholarship/Paper Prizes 

  • The Women’s Classical Caucus presents awards in the areas of scholarship and advocacy. Many former award and prize winners have been self-nominees.

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation: Women’s Studies Fellowship

  • Fellows are late-stage Ph.D. candidates completing original, interesting, and interdisciplinary dissertations that address issues involving women and gender. Fellows demonstrate a commitment to the study of women and gender, and they go on to shape their fields of study and teach new generations of scholars and citizens.
  • The WW Women’s Studies Fellowship, founded in 1974, was the first national fellowship program to support doctoral dissertations on women and gender. Today, Fellows from previous years often serve as advisors to the program and select new classes of Fellows.

Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships (Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation)

  • Funds a major program of graduate fellowships in the humanities and social sciences. These fellowships support students in the final stages of doctoral study whose work offers significant potential for advancing academic scholarship related to ethics and/or religion. The Institute for Citizens & Scholars administers all aspects of this program, including a rigorous national competition for Newcombe Fellowships each year.

See also:

See below for calls for paper (CFPs) and conference lists:

Below is a selection of conferences focusing on Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies:

Specialized IU Research Guides

These are other guides created by IU librarians to help scholars navigate research in specialized sub-disciplines and subjects relevant to gender studies:

See below for our Gender Studies features, highlighting topics and communities related to gender studies:

External Gender Studies Library Research Guides

These are other helpful library subject guides related to Gender Studies from other institutions, which may also be useful in finding relevant resources: