While the pandemic can obstruct interpersonal communication, it can’t stop Kent students from pursuing their academic interests. 

On April 7th, Julia Zhang presented the first in-person Guild presentation in the past two years in Dickinson Auditorium. By analyzing six paintings of German Romantic Caspar David Friedrich, Julia examined the multi-faceted sublime in his paintings and found many elements that express not only his love of nature but also his religious beliefs. 

Recognizing the Guild as a great opportunity to share her project, which she has been working on for more than a year, Julia was happy to share her research results with the Kent community and was surprised that more than 30 people showed up, either in-person or online. 

Although the project was extremely time-consuming, Julia enjoys the process and this opportunity to teach the community something that she learned as a student, as she believed it to be one way to contribute to the community.

 Julia started her presentation by appreciating her research mentor Ms. Lynch, an expert in German culture and language. “Guiding me throughout the process of this independent study, her expertise helped me a lot in this research, and I looked up to her,” said Julia. According to many audience members, the 50-minute presentation was engaging and actually felt short to them. Julia received a lot of good questions and looks forward to continuing her research in art history. According to Julia, “learning art history helps me understand what the artists were trying to convey by helping me see more than the surface.”

Mr. Klingebiel, the head of the Guild, enjoyed Julia’s presentation and liked how she shared her personal experience and illustrated those visual elements with passion. 

When asked about the upward trend of Guild presentations recently, Mr. Klingebiel gave credit to the new schedule, which “gave students more breathing room and allowed them to dig into independent studies,” as compared to the former one. 

Mr. Klingebiel is excited to see more future presentations with unique perspectives and on novel subjects that can add to the atmosphere in which intellectual pursuits are promoted.