by Candace Barrington
I am delighted to spread the news that, as of 1 July 2025, Dr. Dr. Krista Sue-Lo Twu is the Imagine Fund 2025-2027 Arts, Design, and Humanities Chair at the University of Minnesota.
The funding that accompanies the chair will allow her to develop her project–The Book of the North–in collaboration with colleagues from across the university. The project will explore how the cultures of Minnesota connect to the material resources and wider ecology of the region.
It’s exciting to see how Dr. Twu’s scholarly and pedagogical work with manuscripts will bring medieval book arts to life.
The project will feature paper crafted from native milkweed, cultivated flax, and invasive nettles; ink brewed from oak, walnut, and buckthorn.
This project received $100,000 in funding through the University of Minnesota’s Imagine Chair Award. Not only is it the first University of Minnesota-Duluth project to receive this prestigious award, but it’s also the first project in Medieval Studies to receive the award.
Dr. Twu’s first presentation stemming from this project will be a 25 September 2025 webinar (online and in person), “The Book of the North and the Future of the Past” at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Premodern Studies.
I find this project particularly exciting because it demonstrates not only the melding of her research and classroom expertise, but also shows some of the exciting ways that medievalists can engage with the here (wherever that might be) and the now (no matter how distressing the current times might be).
Follow the project on your favorite social media platforms HERE.
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