University of Pittsburgh Library System

This display features Indigenous authors and filmmakers from the collections of the University Library System. It is intended to highlight contemporary works across a variety of topics. Click here to view the location of this collection.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! These titles are a sampling of the people, cultures, stories, buildings, streets, businesses, and rivers that contribute to the city of Pittsburgh, past and present. Titles by various Pittsburgh authors are also included. With this spotlight collection, we hope you get a glimpse of the rich history of Pittsburgh, explore unique neighborhoods, and meet friendly neighbors, both fiction and non-fiction. Click here to view the location of this collection.

The Women in International Education Collection is dedicated to exploring the roles, contributions, and experiences of women within global education systems and international academic environments. This spotlight collection spans multiple disciplines, including education, sociology, gender studies, international relations, and global development, providing a multifaceted view of the intersection between gender and education across diverse cultural, geopolitical, and historical contexts. Key areas of focus within the collection include:

1. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives: Materials examine the historical development of women’s involvement in education worldwide, tracing key milestones such as women’s access to higher education, the rise of female educators, and the evolution of policies promoting gender equity in educational systems.
2. Global Educational Policies and Gender Equality: The collection includes resources on international frameworks, such as UNESCO’s initiatives on gender parity in education, as well as regional and national policies that aim to empower women through educational access and leadership opportunities.
3. Women as Educators and Leaders: The collection features works on the role of women as teachers, administrators, and scholars in international contexts. It also highlights the experiences of women in leadership positions in global education organizations, examining the barriers they face and the strategies they employ to advocate for change.
4. Gender and Educational Access: A significant portion of the collection focuses on gender-based disparities in educational access, particularly in developing countries, and the ways in which women’s education is impacted by social, economic, political, and cultural factors.
5. Intersectionality and Education: Recognizing the complexity of women’s identities, the collection explores intersectionality in global education, addressing how race, class, ethnicity, religion, and other factors intersect with gender to influence educational experiences and outcomes for women.
6. Scholarship and Feminist Theories in Education: Scholarly works on feminist pedagogies, critical gender theory, and postcolonial critiques of education are integral to the collection, providing theoretical frameworks for understanding women’s roles in shaping and being shaped by educational systems around the world.

Through its diverse range of materials, the collection fosters a deeper understanding of how women contribute to and are impacted by the global educational landscape, while supporting the ongoing work of promoting gender equity in education worldwide. Click here to view the location of this collection.

The horror genre is one of most enduring forms of storytelling both in literature and film. It thrives on its ability to entertain, thrill, repulse, and terrify readers and viewers. It also offers a framework for understanding and exploring our fears, both personal and societal. Horror explores these fears through a broad spectrum of approaches that includes both realism and the supernatural: from quiet psychological thrillers to rampaging monsters; from haunted houses to body horror; from historical periods to speculative futures; and from extreme gore to goofy comedy. It is a rich genre, diverse in both its themes and content as well as its creators. This spotlight collection features a variety of titles across the genre to serve as both an entry point for newcomers and somewhere to find something new for dedicated fans. It features classic works in film and literature; winners of the major horror literary awards, the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards; and works from authors whose papers can be found in the horror studies collection in Archives & Special Collections. Click here to view the location of this collection.

This year’s spotlight collection explores the themes of race, gender, and identity, highlighting the diverse experiences and narratives within the Asian American community. By fostering understanding and solidarity among marginalized voices, the collection draws from the Pitt University of Pittsburgh Library System’s extensive Asian American literature collections, and features around thirty 30 carefully selected titles.

This showcase exemplifies contemporary Asian American authors who advocate for their communities from the National Medal awardee Maxine Hong Kingston, whose seminal works like The Woman Warrior and China Men examine the complexities of identity and gender within the Asian American experience, to Pulitzer Prize finalist Cathy Park Hong, whose powerful essays in Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning delve into the emotional and societal struggles faced by Asian American women, this showcase exemplifies contemporary Asian American authors who advocate for their communities. Kingston’s narrative style weaves together personal and collective histories, while Hong’s incisive critique addresses the intersections of race, gender, and culture.

For those interested in Asian American racial identity and social realities, the 2020 book Envisioning Religion, Race, and Asian Americans explores the complex intersections of religion and racial identity among Asian American communities, highlighting how these dynamics shape cultural experiences. Through this diverse array of perspectives, the collection emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in addressing the unique challenges faced by Asian Americans and advocates for a more inclusive dialogue on identity and social justice.

We are collaborating with the Alliance of Queer and Underrepresented Asians in Recognition of Intersectionality to Uphold Solidarity (AQUARIUS) and the Asian Students Alliance (ASA) to host events that promote awareness for API Month. Click here to view the location of this collection.

This collection highlights recipes and narratives from across the African continent, the Caribbean, and the Americas, showcasing how food connects us to history, heritage, and each other. Join us in honoring the flavors and traditions that continue to nourish and inspire communities worldwide. Click here to view the location of this collection.

Black History Month: African Americans, and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational, and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Click here to view the location of this collection.

What ethical questions do you consider when conducting your research? Does your discipline use a particular ethical framework? What ethical concerns arise when working with different kinds of data or research materials?

This collection brings together resources and reflections on what “ethical research” looks like in a wide range of disciplines. Whether you study literature or human behavior, spend your time running laboratory experiments or exploring the archives - you will find something on these shelves that relates to your work.

Drawn from both interdisciplinary and field-specific approaches, this collection provides guidance and theory on the following topics, and more:

• Data privacy
• Research consent
• Ethical data visualization
• Data harm
• Data justice
• Data sustainability
• Social media ethics
• Technology ethics
• Ethics of creativity

Interested in learning more about data ethics or responsible research practices? Click here to view the location of this collection.

“Documentary” is as old as cinema itself; like the larger medium, documentary contains multitudes, and despite limited definitions of the form within mainstream culture, it is evident from the works produced over the course of its history that documentary can be a medium and mode in itself, not merely a single genre or category. Documentaries can tell stories with fabricated plots, characters, and settings. Documentaries shed light on injustices in the world; they just as often obfuscate or manipulate information. Documentaries can be abstract, specific, literal, confusing. Documentaries can cause a viewer to question the reality of what they see on-screen while simultaneously engaging them emotionally.

Our Spotlight Collection, “Documentary: Art, Education, or Advocacy?” seeks to explore the documentary form in its multitudes, highlighting both canonized works and marginalized gems within the Stark Media Collection, and complementing them with essential texts, articles, essays, and anthologies about documentary in its many forms from the Hillman stacks. Click here to view the location of this collection.

The University Library System has strong collections pertaining to jazz. Although many materials can be found in the Theodore M. Finney Music Library (B-30 Music Building), materials can also be found in Hillman Library, Thomas Boulevard, and other locations. This exhibit spotlights the range of books, recordings, and archival materials available to library patrons.

The University Library System has over 40,000 records, CDs, and other physical recording formats, many of which are unavailable to stream online. You can find them in PittCat and listen to them at home or in Finney Music Library. Click here to view the location of this collection.

Latin American art is a rich conglomerate of artistic and cultural expression that spans Mesoamerica, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

This exhibit offers a glimpse at the vast collection of materials held at the ULS of the most influential Latin American artists that have contributed to the question of what it means to be from Latin America. Click here to view the location of this collection.

The very best adaptation/expansion, reimagining mines an already established and valued narrative for deeper meaning and fresh insight. Humans are born storytellers. Whether from oral tradition, written word, or created through other media, a tale impacts culture at a specific time and with a particular audience. Some tales, though, persist over time and are shared again and again. In some cases, the narrative barely alters. But sometimes, a retelling/retooling bursts through, imbued with transformative changes that engage, delight, and challenge. This Spotlight offers the opportunity to enjoy a great story. As you read or listen, perhaps consider why some stories are revisited. What has changed? Why? Who has made the change?

These materials highlight creators referencing known works in surprising ways, captivating audiences anew, possibly employing modern technologies or alternative formats. There are retellings once directed at adult audiences now targeted at youth, and younger fare fashioned for mature audiences. Some reimaginings flip the narrative in terms of elements such as gender, class, locale, age, genre, or time period. You’ll find a heady mix of scary, delightful, disturbing, and nostalgic within this assortment. We invite you to explore these stories—traditional and newly-wrought—that continue to engage and shape popular culture. Click here to view the location of this collection.