2021-2022 PDGR Abstracts
Joanne B. Eicher, Regents Professor Emerita College of Design, Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, University of Minnesota, St Paul Campus.
Color images for book, Global Trade, Cultural Authentication, and the Kalabari of the Niger Delta. With aid from a 2015 UMRA grant requesting funds to prepare images for a book, I have completed a 100,000-word manuscript centered on the global trade and textiles of the Kalabari people of Nigeria. The book includes chapters from my academic publications, authored or co-authored, plus chapters by nine former advisees from the University of Minnesota. Together, we provide an in-depth examination of the Kalabari people’s long-time global connectedness and its influence on their textile traditions involving dress, including an Indian imported cloth (madras) which Kalabari artisans re-design by a process of subtracting threads. My contract with the Indiana University Press for a 2022 publication requires a $4,000 subsidy to support the cost of 80, full-color images for the book’s first print run. Since the book is visually focused, these images are crucial. With its African Expressive Cultures series, the Indiana University Press is the premiere publisher of African arts and history.
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UMRA hosted delegates from 14 of the 18 schools in the Big Ten for the 2026 Big Ten Retirees Association conference in July. It was described as “the perfect collaboration” by two delegates we invited to share a few of their key takeaways from the conference.
Developing communication skills is the focus of two programs needing volunteers this fall: the “Reader/Writer Program,” assisting students in Minneapolis Public Schools grades 7-12 to develop literacy skills; and “Partners in English,” engaging in conversation with adults for whom English is not their first language.
After being unexpectedly sidelined at the outset of her retirement, Pam Snopl now enjoys doing many of the things retirees get to do, including reconnecting in person with family and friends, going to museums and weekday Minnesota Twins games, reading, and writing.
UMRA member George Swan retired in 2021 after 30+ years at University Libraries, but still returns to campus to visit one or another of the libraries at least twice a week in his current role as a student/retiree.
UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees program is an annual competition for grants to support projects related to retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarly or creative interests.
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