{"id":118,"date":"2020-01-10T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T17:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/?page_id=118"},"modified":"2026-05-28T15:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:39:53","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/books\/","title":{"rendered":"The Core Reading List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Classic books, in close conversation.<\/h1>\n

\u201cI sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not.\u201d \u2013 WEB DuBois<\/em><\/h4>\n

This list is updated for the start of each semester, so that students will know in advance what books will be required for their Core courses. Exact editions are required.<\/p>\n

Copies of the Core texts<\/strong> can be obtained from the Core office, as long as supplies allow, for a set period of time (as books signed-out from the Core library).<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Course<\/strong><\/td>\nSemester<\/strong><\/td>\nTitle, with Author(s) and Translators<\/strong><\/td>\nISBN<\/strong><\/td>\nlink<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC101<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\n Gilgamesh,<\/em> trans. Ferry<\/td>\n9781466885028<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC101<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\n The Odyssey <\/em>by Homer, trans. Fitzgerald<\/td>\n9780374525743<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC101<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nOdysseus at Troy<\/em>, trans. Esposito<\/td>\n9781585103966<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/td>\n		B&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC101<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\n The Republic <\/em>by Plato, trans. Reeve<\/td>\n9780872207363<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/td>\n		B&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC101<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nGenesis, <\/em>trans. Alter<\/td>\n9780393316704<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/td>\n		B&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nThe Daodejing of Laozi<\/em>, trans. Ivanhoe<\/td>\n9780872207011<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nThe Bhagavad-Gita<\/em>, trans. Stoler-Miller<\/td>\n9780553213652<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n The Gospel of Matthew <\/em>from the New Testament (NRSV)<\/td>\n9781585160303<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n The Gospel of John <\/em>from the New Testament (NRSV)<\/td>\n9781585160303<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n The Analects <\/em>by Confucius, trans. Watson<\/td>\n9780231141659<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n Inferno <\/em>by Dante, trans. Mandelbaum<\/td>\n9780553213393<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n Purgatorio <\/em>by Dante, trans. Mandelbaum<\/td>\n9780553213447<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n Paradiso <\/em>by Dante, trans. Mandelbaum<\/td>\n9780553900545<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nThe Aeneid <\/em>by Virgil, trans. Fitzgerald<\/td>\n9780679729525<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nselections from the works of\u00a0Hrosvitha<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC102<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\n Nicomachean Ethics <\/em>by Aristotle, trans. Beresford<\/td>\n9780140455472<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC111<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nCustom online textbook (on course webpage)<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Prince by Machiavelli, trans. Wootton<\/em><\/td>\n9780872203167<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Canzionere<\/em> by Petrarch, trans. Musa<\/td>\npacket<\/span><\/em><\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Essays: A Selection <\/em>by Michel de Montaigne, trans. Screech<\/td>\n9780140446029<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nselected poems, prayers, letters, and speeches of Queen Elizabeth I<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nDon Quixote <\/em>by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, trans. Rutherford<\/td>\n9780142437230<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Sonnets <\/em>by William Shakespeare<\/td>\n9780451527271<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nHamlet <\/em>by William Shakespeare<\/td>\n9780451526922<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nDescartes:\u00a0<\/span>Meditations on First Philosophy<\/i> <\/em>by Ren\u00e9 Descartes, trans. Crest<\/td>\n9780872201927<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Convent of Pleasure\u00a0<\/em>by Margaret Cavendish<\/td>\npacket<\/em><\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC201<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\n Paradise Lost <\/em>by John Milton<\/td>\n9780451531643<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nCandide <\/em> by Voltaire, trans. Wootton<\/td>\n9780872205468<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass<\/em><\/td>\n9780486284996<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nThe Cherry Orchard<\/em> by Anton Chekhov, trans. Nelson, Pevear and Volokhonsky<\/td>\n9780486284996<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nFaust <\/em>by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, trans. Kauffmann<\/td>\n9780385031141<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nPride and Prejudice <\/em> by Jane Austen<\/td>\n9780141439518<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nLeaves of Grass<\/em> by Walt Whitman<\/td>\n9780451419170<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nGroundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals <\/em> by Immanuel Kant, trans. Grego & Timmermann<\/td>\n9781107401068<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nEnglish Romantic Poetry: An Anthology <\/em>edited by Appelbaum<\/td>\n9780486292823<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nOn the Genealogy of Morality <\/em> by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. Diethe<\/td>\n9780521691635<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nThe Souls of Black Folk <\/em> by W.E.B. Du Bois<\/td>\n9780486280417<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC202<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nFrankenstein<\/em> by Mary Shelley<\/td>\n9780143131847<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Prince by Machiavelli, trans. Wootton<\/em><\/td>\n9780872203167<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nLeviathan <\/em>by Thomas Hobbes<\/td>\n9780872201774<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nSecond Treatise of Government <\/em>by John Locke<\/td>\n9780915144860<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nBasic Political Writings <\/em>by Jean-Jacques Rousseau<\/td>\n9781603846738<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nexcerpt from “Of the Original Contract” by David Hume<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nselections of declarations of liberty and equality<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nA Vindication of the Rights of Women<\/em> by Mary Wollstonecraft<\/td>\npacket<\/em><\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nexcerpts from Rousseau’s\u00a0Emile<\/em><\/td>\npacket<\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nDemocracy in America\u00a0<\/em>by Alexis de Tocqueville<\/td>\n9780872204942<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Wealth of Nations<\/em> by Adam Smith<\/td>\npacket<\/em><\/td>\npacket<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Marx and Engels Reader<\/em>, edited by Tucker<\/td>\n9780393090406<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Division of Labor in Society<\/em> by \u00c9mile Durkheim<\/td>\n9781476749730<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC221<\/td>\nF26<\/td>\nThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em> by Max Weber<\/td>\n9780199747252<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC212<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nMerchants of Doubt <\/em>by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway<\/td>\n9781608193943<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nPurity and Danger\u00a0<\/em>by Mary Douglas<\/td>\n9780415289955<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nCivilization and its Discontents<\/em> by Freud, trans. Strachey<\/td>\n9780393304510<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nDiscipline and Punish<\/em> by Foucault, trans. Sheridan<\/td>\n9780679752554<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nBlack Skin, White Masks<\/em>\u00a0by Fanon, trans. Philcox<\/td>\n9780802143006<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nIn the Ruins of Neoliberalism<\/em>\u00a0by Wendy Brown<\/td>\n9780231193856<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC222<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nGender Trouble<\/em> by Judith Butler<\/td>\n9780231193856<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC320<\/td>\nF25<\/td>\nThe Aeneid<\/em> by Virgil, trans. Fitzgerald (Klein)<\/td>\n9780679729525<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC320<\/td>\nF25<\/td>\n<\/em>The Analects <\/em>by Confucius, trans. Watson (Klancer)<\/td>\n9780743261692<\/span><\/em><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CC320<\/td>\nS26<\/td>\nGenesis (for Prentice section, A1)<\/td>\n9780393316704<\/span><\/td>\nB&N<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Classic books, in close conversation. \u201cI sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not.\u201d \u2013 WEB DuBois This list is updated for the start of each semester, so that students will know in advance what books will be required for their Core courses. Exact editions are required. Copies of the Core texts can be obtained from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3480,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":25,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5733,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions\/5733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}