Connor Smith

Connor Smith graduated from UVA in 2026 with a bachelor's in European Studies, where he also received his B.A. in Art History and German Studies in 2024. His graduate work continued his interests in interpreting works of art, both literary and visual, as thresholds for meaningful humanistic exchange and connection. In his MA program, Connor’s primary research focus was on the paintings, sculptures, and books of contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945) dedicated to the Romanian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and poet Paul Celan (1920–1970). His master’s thesis, “Paul Celan and Anselm Kiefer: A Questionable Exchange,” sought to define the politically relevant, transhistorical, and artistic correspondence woven through Celan’s poetry, Kiefer’s reading of it, and the German artist’s commemorative (and at times controversial) reactions to it in his multimedia practice.

In addition to being a Mark J. Friedman Family Graduate Fellow, Connor was an exchange student at the Freie Universität Berlin during the 2025-2026 academic year. He also has a scholarly interest in the materiality of the book and worked part-time as an administrator at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.