Galloway, N.J. —  Adam Miyashiro, professor of Literature at Stockton, recently completed a yearlong project with the Arizona Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS) at Arizona State University, which consisted of a series of videos teaching medieval literature.  

“This project comes out of RaceB4Race, a small research symposium created at the ACMRS in response to the movement started by the academic group Medievalists of Color, of which I am a co-founder. The group sought to challenge the exclusionary and racist composition of medieval studies fields and to bring attention to scholars of color who work in premodern fields, and also to the questions of how race and cultural difference were understood in the medieval period,” Miyashiro shared. 

It is part of a free online resource called Throughlines, which grew from a Mellon-funded grant through ACMRS. Throughlines “aims to expand curricular development, field diversification, academic mentorship and public humanities work around race in premodern humanities fields.” This site highlights videos and resources for teaching race in pre- and early modern classrooms in higher education. It is a collaborative effort from faculty of color from around the medieval and early modern fields of study in literature, history, art history, philosophy and related disciplines.

Miyashiro, who has taught at Stockton for 15 years, spoke about how being a part of something like this impacts his teaching here. “A project like this helps to showcase Stockton’s commitment to innovative and cutting-edge teaching and pedagogy by supporting its faculty’s academic freedom. I could not have accomplished my teaching and research goals at many other institutions besides this place, which allows faculty to experiment and take risks investigating imaginative research projects and translating them into the classroom,” he reflected. “It also shows our students that their teachers are engaged and current in the subjects they teach and research, so they are getting the best education that can be offered not only in New Jersey but also nationally and internationally. It also shows our university’s administration that allowing faculty to pursue their originality and creativity will yield recognition for our institution, showing that Stockton can be a game-changer in higher education.”

Miyashiro’s passion for medieval literature is rooted in how the past can often reflect the present. “The study of the past – in literature, history, arts, sciences and philosophy – always gives us clues to our modern problems, helps to contextualize our current period, and gives us a space to imagine possibilities we might not have previously considered. 

"Can we imagine a society without money? Or grocery stores? Or cars, planes, or cell phones?” he questioned. “Our pasts show us how humanity grew and changed without the presence of modern technology, how our societies adapted to climate changes, diseases and pandemics. During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, many people compared the virus to the great plague outbreak of the 14th century, which led to comparisons, differences and similarities in how we understand the disease culturally and socially as well as medically. Many of these descriptions of society’s response to the plague were found in medieval literary texts like Boccaccio’s "Decameron." This is why the study of literature more broadly is so important in our ever-changing world.”

For aspiring young writers and readers, Miyashiro offered a piece of advice: “Read widely and be curious. Read things that may not be your primary interest, and read things that may not come from your own culture.”

Reported by Mandee McCullough

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