Mark Cruse is a medievalist and a professor of French in the School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 2005. He fell in love with France during his junior year abroad, and lived there for six years in Paris and Dijon. Since 1997, Mark has also been a lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  His teaching and research encompass a wide range of topics, including chivalric literature, illuminated manuscripts, the history of Paris, Marco Polo, and relations between France and the Mongols. He lectures frequently at museums and universities across the U.S. and Europe, as well as at local salons and retirement communities, and is deeply committed to public outreach and lifelong learning. Mark has received internationally prestigious grants from the Institute for Advanced Study and National Humanities Center, and he has been nominated for several teaching awards. He enjoys hiking, learning languages (he currently speaks three and reads six others), sailing, snowboarding, and traveling.