COURSE DESCRIPTION

    Studying laughter is not a laughing matter. Humor is a serious issue. However, neither laughing nor humor have received a proper attention from the scientific world until recently. This course is designed to introduce students to anthropology of laughter and humor, focusing on their role in any society (from preliterate to technologically advanced) but particularly on the use and abuse of humor in modern reality of the U.S. It will point out that different forms of humor not only reflect socio-political values, dynamics, conflicts, and challenges experienced in the multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual complexity of the American “Melting Pot” but also perpetuate the existing stereotypes, inequalities and perceptions. Humor will be presented as one of the most effective vehicles of communication in any society whose applications influence both emotional and physical choices humans make. As such, humor is a powerful “weapon” in exposing, creating, and resolving numerous societal conflicts.