Mikaela Platander, in her final semester of the MA in European intellectual history and culture at the University of Oslo, presents her research on the emotional and symbolic significance of textiles in St Birgitta of Sweden's monastic rule, Regula Salvatoris. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining the history of emotions, monastic studies, and dress history, Platander explores how Birgitta used textiles—such as through embroidery and dressing—to foster emotional connections and establish a unique emotional community among the women in her order.

Her work draws on concepts like emotional valence, as developed by Margrit Pernau, to uncover how feelings were expressed, produced, and ritualized through material practices.

Mikaela Platander is completing her MA thesis on the interplay of emotions and textiles, while also taking advanced courses in Medieval Latin and Paleography under the auspices of The Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Etudes Médiévales (FIDEM), hosted by the Norwegian Institute this semester.

https://www.hf.uio.no/dnir/english/research/news-and-events/events/2025/platander.html