The Book of the North and the Future of the Past

About the Talk: 

Imagining the past is a great way to think about our future - the present is the future of the past, after all. The Book of the North demonstrates how Medieval Studies can bring together humanities, sciences and arts to discover the ways that the past can inform the future, and thrive in today’s university. The project’s multidisciplinary team includes a medievalist, a chemist, a biologist, an engineer, a paper artist, a fiber artist & ecologist, and the people of Minnesota, collaborating to make a book using premodern techniques, to experience how the information technologies of the past bind together communities and ecologies, and create a vision for a more sustainable future. This project received $100,000 in funding through the University of Minnesota's Imagine Chair Award (2025-2027) - the first time it's been awarded to the UMD campus, and the first time it’s been awarded to a project in Medieval Studies.

About the Speaker: 

 Dr. Krista Sue-Lo Twu is the University of Minnesota Imagine Arts, Humanities, and Design Chair (2025-2027), leading a multidisciplinary consortium of artists, humanities scholars, and scientists in the Book of the North project. Twu has a PhD from the University of California, Irvine, and studied Paleography and Codicology at Notre Dame University. They hold academic appointments in Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and the UMN Center for Premodern Studies.

Follow the Project:

The Book of the North Project is on social media. You can follow the project on your favorite platforms.

Sponsors:

This talk is presented with support from the Center for Premodern Studies, the Medieval Studies Fund, the IAS Creative Collaborative Interrogating Archives, and the Imagine Fund Arts, Humanities, and Design Chair Award.