Throughlines

CONTENT Throughlines is a free video and multimedia website designed to help educators bring discussions of race into premodern (before 1500 CE) history, literature, and culture classrooms. The resource was designed and created by a team at the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies to provide educators with tools and curated teaching materials to facilitate discussions of race and race-making in the classroom. Throughlines is an expansion of RaceB4Race, a research network and symposium series by and for BIPOC scholars, centered on issues of race in the humanities. The pedagogical and scholarly resources are created by a team of eminent scholars with wide-ranging interests. Materials include essays, videos, lectures, interviews, pedagogical approaches, exemplar syllabi, classroom discussion models, and an annotated bibliography. Of particular interest are the “RaceB4Race Highlights,” which include transcripts, excerpts, and links to full talks presented at the RaceB4Race Symposium. In addition to the central content, Throughlines also offers an outstanding annotated bibliography of premodern critical race studies (PCRS), which is fully searchable, sortable, and downloadable.

With Throughlines, educators can employ a piecemeal approach, using content to supplement extant syllabi. Those seeking to incorporate more Throughlines content can explore the complete syllabi, classroom activities, and assignments.

USABILITY The home page is polished and appealing, featuring ready entry to the contents with the “Get Started” button at the center of the page. Users can also access content through the top menu links to the “Discover,” “Scholars,” “About,” and search pages. While the home page includes tiles for accessing key featured content, most users will want to visit the “Discover” tab, where they can search for and interact with all available content.

By selecting “browse” within the “Discover” tab, users can conduct targeted browsing sessions. The initial content list is unfiltered and randomized, but users can locate the topics they need with a range of filters. The filters are grouped into topics (e.g., transnational studies, poetry, religion, Shakespeare), periods (ancient, early modern, medieval, 18th century), and types (e.g., activity, discussion questions, syllabus, video). Related content is displayed to the right of the filters menu. Links take users to the individual pages and lists of recommended resources for further study. Full citation and access information is displayed prominently at the top of each page.

The PCRS annotated bibliography can be accessed through the “Discover” tab. Here, users can sort through an impressive list of secondary sources examining race in the premodern era. The bibliography can be filtered by the facets on the left: period (ancient, early modern, medieval, 18th century), and discipline (performance, musicology, literature, art history, philosophy, and more). Some of the facets (like literature) offer more entries than others (like musicology), but this is a continually evolving document, and new entries will be added in the months to come. All entries within the bibliography can be printed, shared, or emailed.

PRICING With funding from the Mellon Foundation, Throughlines is a freely available online resource.

VERDICT This unique and expansive resource offers exciting opportunities for educators seeking to facilitate discussions centered on race and racism, identity, power, and culture. Materials are curated and presented by exceptional scholars and teachers who offer nuanced understandings and thoughtful writings across a range of topics.