Resources
Rich in feminist history and scholarship, Western Massachusetts is home to five academic institutions — each with extensive archival and special collections — as well as teaching museums, cultural venues, performance spaces, and more.
Five College Resources
Amherst College
Sexuality, Women’s & Gender Studies
Hampshire College
Queer Studies
Mount Holyoke College
Gender Studies
Smith College
Study of Women and Gender
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies
Five College Consortium
A full list of course offerings across the Five Colleges can be found here.
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Includes Native American literature, Samuel French theater publications, and manuscripts by Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Eugene O’Neill, and more.
Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections
Comprised of unique collections including materials by and about Hampshire College founders, faculty, staff, and alumni, programs, offices, publications, photographs, oral histories, and artifacts.
Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections
Includes robust archives on the history of women’s education.
Smith College Special Collections
Featuring the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History, Smith College Archives, and Mortimer Rare Book Collection
University of Massachusetts Amherst Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
Includes the papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, with a focus on collecting original materials that document the histories and experiences of social change in America and the organizational, intellectual, and individual ties that unite disparate struggles for social justice, human dignity, and equality.
Amherst College Mead Art Museum
Eight galleries featuring regularly changing exhibitions and installations spanning a wide range of historical periods and artistic media.
Collective Power for Reproductive Justice at Hampshire College
A national reproductive rights and justice organization dedicated to educating, mentoring, and inspiring new generations of advocates, leaders, and supporters.
Hampshire College Art Gallery
An exhibition space concentrating on, but not limited to, the visual arts, including an eclectic permanent collection.
Hampshire College Farm
Founded in the 1970s, the farm produces over 75,000 pounds of organic produce on 15 acres of land, with an additional 65 acres in pasture and livestock production; it is also a hub for investigating the intellectual, political, and scientific issues surrounding food production.
Joseph Allen Skinner Museum of Mount Holyoke College
Boasts important collections of minerals and fossils, early lighting, rare books and documents, furniture, maritime objects, and more.
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
One of the oldest teaching museums in the country, dedicated to providing firsthand experience with works of significant aesthetic and cultural value.
Smith College Museum of Art
An academic center of feminist liberal arts education since its beginnings in the 1870s, four years the College enrolled its first class.
UMass Amherst University Museum of Contemporary Art
Housed at the university's Fine Arts Center since 1975, now with a collection of about 2,600 pieces from the second half of the 20th century.
The Common at Amherst College
An award-winning literary magazine that publishes stories, essays, poems and images with a strong sense of place.
Five College Reproductive Politics Faculty Seminar
Provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to share knowledge about the work being done locally and internationally in the field of reproductive politics, as well as to discuss challenges and opportunities for collaboration. Numerous faculty who have presented their work-in-progress at a seminar have gone on to publish articles and books.
Five College Funding Opportunities
Five Colleges offers several funding streams to support small- and large-scale collaborative, cross-campus events and initiatives, including NAIS Mellon Mini-Grants and Residencies.
Lit Fest
Hosted at Amherst College since 2016; programming includes a keynote speaker, finalists and winners of the year's National Book Awards, and prominent literary alumni and faculty.
Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism at Smith College
A feminist, interdisciplinary journal whose goal is to provide a forum for the finest scholarship and creative work by and about women of color in U.S. and international contexts.
Surrounding Area Resources
Double Edge Theatre: an ensemble-based physical theater with an emphasis on training and collective devised creation, with site-specific outdoor performances taking place at the theater’s farm
Emily Dickinson Museum: comprised of two historic houses, both associated with the poet Emily Dickinson and members of her family during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Jacob’s Pillow: dance center, school, and performance space, with extensive archives, year-round community programs, and a popular summer dance festival.
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the United States.
National Yiddish Book Center: a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the Yiddish language, including more than one million Yiddish books.
Tell it Slant Poetry Festival (formerly Amherst Poetry Festival): a celebration of the poetic legacy of Emily Dickinson and the contemporary creativity of the Pioneer Valley and beyond.
Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts: advancing social change philanthropy to create economic and social equality for women and girls in Western Massachusetts through grantmaking and strategic initiatives.
Sharing Opportunities
Many opportunities—spanning journals, conferences, funding, and jobs—are promoted to the Center. We make it a priority to share these opportunities with our networks through our Opportunities Digest.
Building Feminist Community
The Center is invested in uplifting and engaging with feminist institutions and communities in the area. If you know of any resources that we left off of this page or would like to put the Center in touch with a local feminist organization, please be in touch via email: fcwsrc@fivecolleges.edu.