Film Historian,Psychologist,Artist Walk into Class:Laugh Across Discp (ARTS 2162 L)
Term: 2024-25 Academic Year Spring
Schedule
Tue, 6:15 PM - 8:15 PM (1/22/2025 - 5/6/2025) Location: SLC HEIM 202
Thu, 9:25 AM - 11:25 AM (1/22/2025 - 5/6/2025) Location: SLC PAC REI
Thu, 12:30 PM - 1:25 PM (1/22/2025 - 5/6/2025) Location: SLC HEIM 300
Description
Why is the topic of laughter so often siloed or scorned in discussions of high art, literature, and the sciences? Why don’t we take laughter seriously as a society? How many professors does it take to teach a course on laughter? (Two more than usual!) In this lecture-seminar, students will develop a highly interdisciplinary understanding of laughter as a human behavior, cultural practice, and wideranging tool for creative expression. Based on the expertise of the three professors, lectures will primarily investigate laughter through the lens of psychology, film history, and visual arts. The goal of the course is to think and play across many disciplines. For class assignments, students may be asked to conduct scientific studies of audience laughter patterns, create works of art with punchlines, or write close analyses of classic cinematic gags. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the building blocks of laughter; classic devices of modern comedy; and laughter as a force of