TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Editorial cartoonists, editors and University of Alabama experts on editorial cartoons will speak at a symposium titled “Cutting Edge Art: Inside the World of Political Cartoons” Tuesday, Oct. 19 from 5-7 p.m. at the Alabama Museum of Natural History on the UA campus.

The symposium is offered in conjunction with an exhibit, “Cartoonists Take Up Smoking,” on display at the museum through Oct. 31. Both the symposium and the exhibit are sponsored by UA’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society.

Panelists at the symposium will be

• Dr. E. Culpepper Clark, dean, UA College of Communication and Information Sciences
• Charles Brooks, editor, “Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year”
• J.D. Crowe, editorial cartoonist, Mobile Register
• Scott Stantis, editorial cartoonist, The Birmingham News
• Bob Blalock, editorial page editor, The Birmingham News
• Dr. Janis Edwards, UA associate professor of communication studies, author of “Political Cartoons in the 1988 Presidential Campaign”
• Dr. Alan Blum, director, UA Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, and professor of family medicine, UA College of Community Health Sciences

The exhibit, curated by Blum, features more than 40 original editorial cartoons by nationally known cartoonists on the subject of tobacco. It also includes smoking-related items from the collections of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society including front-page headlines that inspired the cartoons, cigarette ads and other smoking-related items.

The exhibit debuted in April in Lexington, Ky., in conjunction with the annual convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. More than 80 American and Canadian editorial cartoonists are represented in the show, which will travel to several cities over the next two years. The exhibit is scheduled to be shown in the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., in 2006.

The symposium will be in room 205 Smith Hall on the UA campus. It is free and open to the public. For more information, call 205/348-2162.