Susan J. Wolfson on Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

It was so exciting, so interesting, so educational, so sobering, so exhilarating to plan, research, and write On Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Sobering because my grandmother, born in the 1890s, was a suffragist; sobering because...

March 3, 2023

Married Women’s Property Rights and Enslavement in the Pre–Civil War South

Sara Chatfield

When we think about women’s history, the suffrage movement is often one of the first topics that comes to mind. But individual states, largely before women had the right to vote, enacted reforms that significantly expanded the economic rights of...

March 2, 2023

Narrative Activism

#MeToo from Harriet Jacobs to Tarana Burke

Leigh Gilmore

Especially in its early months in 2017, #MeToo was often described as unprecedented. Social media received credit for bringing a new level of public awareness to the scale of sexual abuse and, as a result, generating consequences for abusers. Certainly,...

March 1, 2023

Twenty Books to Read for Women’s History Month 2023

Join us in celebrating the cultural, social, and leadership contributions women have played throughout history. From their critical roles in politics and advocacy to the fight against sexual violence, the underrepresentation of women in the workplace and scholarship to unsung...

February 15, 2023

Q&A: Dr. Amy Yeboah Quarkume and Dr. Frank Guridy on Black Lives in the Diaspora: Past / Present / Future

A Howard-Columbia Intellectual Partnership

In February 2021, Columbia University Press announced a new partnership with Howard University’s College of Arts and Sciences and Columbia University’s African American and African Diaspora Studies Department—the Black Lives in the Diaspora: Past / Present / Future series. Building on Columbia University...

February 8, 2023

The Struggle and Resistance of Black Women Beneficiaries of Social Welfare

Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour

On September 27, 2022, Renée Graham, a Boston Globe columnist, published a piece entitled “Brett Favre, Welfare Queen: The Same People Who Denounce Welfare Don’t Seem Outraged Over the Former Quarterback’s Alleged Misappropriation of Antipoverty Funds.” Her bold title was...

February 1, 2023

Why Historically Black Colleges and Universities Are Vital and Valuable to the U.S. Higher Education System

James V. Koch and Omari H. Swinton

Are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) “vital and valuable” to contemporary America? Absolutely. HBCUs capably fill a niche in higher education (and in society) that the typical American college or university either ignores or downplays. Many Americans, especially those...

January 25, 2023

Families for Our Ideas: Beatrice Marovich in Conversation with Krista Dragomer on the Art of Sister Death

When I submitted the final manuscript of Sister Death: Political Theologies for Living and Dying to Columbia University Press, the document did not include images. Somehow, partly through the organic growth of the book and partly through happy accident, the...

January 17, 2023

Q&A: David Bordwell on Perplexing Plots

The art of storytelling is an ever-evolving relationship between writers and their audiences that gets more complex over time. For instance, nonlinear story lines, once considered complex, are now part of mainstream films and mystery and suspense thrillers. David Bordwell,...

January 10, 2023

Resolving to Downsize

Robyn Massey

As one of the many readers or viewers who has engaged with Marie Kondo’s advice on how to think about, purge, and organize possessions, I was attracted to a recent work, Downsizing: Confronting Our Possessions in Later Life, by David...

January 3, 2023

Announcing Our 2023 History Catalog

Letter from the Editors: We are pleased to present the 2023 history catalog from Columbia University Press. We have a slate of new books that examine the life and legacy of globally important intellectual figures, U.S. intrigue in the Cold...

January 3, 2023

Announcing Our 2023 Literary Studies Catalog

Letter from the Editors: We are very excited to share our new catalog in literary studies, which includes a wide range of books in a variety of areas. Imani Owens’s Turn the World Upside Down, is one of the first...