SCHEDULE

Week # 1 - May 18, 2010
Let’s laugh!
Introduction: humor offensiveness, consents, and disclaimers.What is laughter? Recognizing, vocalizing, defining, and using laughter.

Week # 2 - May 20, 2010
Your Brain on Laughter! Physiology and evolution of laughter. Can laughter and/or humor be addictive? “Dogs may laugh but only cats get the joke!”

Week # 3 - May 25, 2010
Humor me! What is humor? Defining humor through its attributes: sources (stimuli), their perception and evaluation, behavioral responses. From Humoral
Pathology to Paleohumorology.

Week # 4 - May 27, 2010
Are you laughing yet? Basic elements, factors, and subjects of effective humor. Linguistic studies of competence in communicating humor.

EXAM #1!!! (take home -- to be turned in on June 8, 2010