URL www.throughlines.org

Grade Level Gr 10 Up

Cost Free

Overview Much of our contemporary understanding of race stems from 19th-century anthropological studies of racism. However, through the work and teachings of BIPOC scholars in the field of Premodern Critical Race Studies, RaceB4Race, a collaborative formed at the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS), educators can now offer students more in-depth learning on this subject. ACMRS has further expanded RaceB4Race’s mission through Throughlines, a resource designed to foreground earlier concepts of race and racial development, specifically from the premodern era.

Content Throughlines offers a collection of reading lists, discussion questions, syllabi, videos, and essays organized by topic, period, and resource type. Topics include Transnational Studies, Religion, Gender and Sexuality, Indigeneity, Appropriations, Poetry, Black Atlantic, Shakespeare, and Introduction to premodern critical race studies.

The four periods covered are ancient, medieval, early modern, and the 18th century. The resources are created by contributing scholars from a range of academic institutions and interdisciplinary fields. Additionally, Throughlines provides an annotated bibliography of selected foundational texts in premodern critical race studies to help ground users with an understanding of the field. The annotated bibliography is organized by period and discipline. Those disciplines include Performance, Musicology, Literature, History, Art History, Religious Studies, and Philosophy. Users can download the annotated bibliography or use the icons to conveniently print, share, or email the document.

Ease of Use The collection is devised to grow in the future; although it is unclear the exact number of individual items at any one time, the search feature is easy to navigate. Users can browse resources by selecting a topic, period, or type. For more specific results, they can combine multiple search filters. For example, to find an essay on religion from ancient times, a user can select Religion from topics, Ancient under periods, and Essay under type. Users can build upon their searches by adding additional filters for multiple resources about the same topic from the same period. Additionally, while it is not a prominent feature, further resources by the contributor are available: the scholars tab lists the contributors with photos that link to their other pieces in the collection.

A quick look through the resources made clear that Throughlines is designed with accessibility in mind. Each written resource contains a download button at bottom of the page, linking to a printable copy. Each printable copy includes page numbers, the resource type, a Chicago Manual of Style citation, and a works cited section if applicable. Each video resource includes a link to download a transcript containing the same information as the written resources.

Teachers Although created for college settings, Throughlines is easily adaptable for high school classrooms. Educators are encouraged to incorporate Throughlines resources into their existing lessons or use the available syllabi in full. High school teachers may find the video resources especially useful. Their short lengths provide an excellent opportunity for reflective writing assignments, such as responding to speakers’ ideas or making connections to other areas of study. Teachers could also assign Throughlines as a research tool for more extensive projects and writing assignments. With its interdisciplinary approach, it is well-suited for exploring contemporary connections in areas like Performance, Music, and Art History.

Verdict Educators will appreciate the variety of materials offered that can supplement or enhance their units of study. Each resource includes suggestions for further learning and more recommended reading and viewing. Since the contributing scholars are listed and linked to their resources, educators can explore their work beyond Throughlines. As a new and growing resource, Throughlines is a valuable pedagogical tool for secondary schools and universities everywhere.

Maegen Rose, Brooklyn Friends School (NY)