In May 2025, graduate student Peter Smyth traveled to Paris to visit exhibitions of modern art, including the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée d’Art Moderne. Then, Peter continued on to Belgium to visit exhibitions of cartoon art, including the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve and the Musée de la Bande Dessinée in Brussels. Visiting these exhibitions contributed to Peter’s dissertation research into the connections between modern art and cartooning.

This trip was generously supported by the Murnane Travel Scholarship.