A Message from the

President of Sweet Briar College

The hallmark of a Sweet Briar liberal arts education is its ability to integrate teaching and learning across disciplines. We encourage students to conduct primary research, working one-on-one with professors as mentors. We celebrate and support individual accomplishment; indeed, we expect it. The work presented in part through this catalog by senior Julia A. Paris is a perfect example of this approach to learning.

Ms. Paris, a Turning Point student (a student of non-traditional age) who has self-designed an interdisciplinary major emphasizing medieval studies, won one of four 1998 Sweet Briar Summer Research Fellowships sponsored by the Honors Program to conduct the research for this work.

Ms. Paris' project encompasses not only the exhibition and accompanying catalog and web site, but also the creation of an interactive study center where future students will be able to explore in depth the Sweet Briar collection of Japanese ukiyoe through books, videos and world wide web resources on Chinese and Japanese culture and art history.

Through this project, Ms. Paris has succeeded in more than the fulfillment of an academic objective; she has given a gift to the entire community that will be enjoyed and used for years to come. Indeed, in her application for the highly competitive Summer Research grant, Ms. Paris noted that "in our increasingly global world, economic relations with modern Japan are an integral factor. The perspectives of women, children, and the natural and domestic worlds of Japanese society presented in these 18th- and 19th-century images continue to be facets of the Japanese ethos. Our understanding this Japanese cultural foundation is germane to our education as enlightened global citizens." This project serves to further this understanding.

It is my great pleasure to congratulate Ms. Paris on the success of her research project. Let me also call attention, with pride and appreciation, to the teaching and support she received from John Goulde, associate professor of religion and director of Asian Studies, and Rebecca Massie Lane, director of College Galleries and the Arts Management Program. Together, their work with Ms. Paris has produced an exhibition of high professional quality. Both teachers exemplify the excellence in undergraduate education at Sweet Briar College. Their dedication to students such as Ms. Paris brings honor to the institution.

Elisabeth S. Muhlenfeld