Exploring the ties between art and empire

For doctoral candidate Jennifer Laffick ’27, the power of art and the power behind politics are intricately connected. A Meadows artistic scholar, University Ph.D. fellow and recently named Fulbright Scholar, Laffick’s combined passions for history, art and curatorial work led her to SMU Meadows School of the Arts. Now, donor support and graduate programming are aiding her research on how France’s imperial power influenced and was shaped by the visual arts in the years surrounding 1800.

Growing up in Central Florida, Laffick’s love of art history was born in an introductory art history class at the University of Central Florida, taught by SMU alumna Margaret Zaho ’94. At SMU, Laffick’s work has garnered her the Provost’s Doctoral Candidacy Fellowship and the Provost’s Summer Research Grant. This funding allowed her to take a recent journey to Brazil to study rare paintings by artist Jean-Baptiste Debret, as well as a summer research trip to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, a former French colony where artists Guillaume Guillon Lethière and Benjamin Rolland were born.

“Without the financial support of SMU and its donors, it would not be possible for me to pursue my doctorate,” said Laffick. “By alleviating financial burdens through these generous fellowships and scholarships, graduate and doctoral students can focus more of our time and energy to successfully completing our degrees and furthering vital research.”

In the coming months, Laffick will expand her research into the period by studying at the Université Grenoble Alpes in France for the 2024–2025 academic year as a recently announced member of the Fulbright Scholars program. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Laffick will spend the year in France conducting research on her dissertation project titled “Neoclassicism’s Atlantic Currents: French Painting and Power in the Early 19th Century.”

“In that first art history class, I began to see art as a prism to understand history and humanity,” said Laffick. “Through my research, I hope to help make art, especially the art that seems removed from our present moment, more accessible, engaging and relevant to a wide range of audiences, whether they be in the classroom or a museum gallery.”