plenty of background bibliography, discography and discussion topics in the course syllabus for "Women, Representation, and Music in Selected Folk Traditions of the British Isles and North America" seminars taught by Ruth Perry (MIT) and Judith Tick (Northeastern)
background info at http://www.radcliffe.edu/students/gcws/courses/03-04_courses.php and detailed syllabus at http://www.radcliffe.edu/students/gcws/courses/Perry-Tick_syllabus.pdf