Absolutely Hilarious, 1997. Peter Williams (born 1952). Oil on canvas.
Clark University
950 Main St.
FREE TO ALL!
Clark University will host “Dark Humor and the African Image,” a lecture by curator Tiffany E. Barber, at 7 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 16, in the Higgins Lounge in Dana Commons.
This free, public event is part of the Higgins School of Humanities’ spring symposium, “What’s So Funny?” as well as the on-going African American Intellectual Culture Series.
Barber will talk about how African American artists use satire, visual puns, farce, absurdity, kitsch, and the bizarre to present reverent, positive images of blackness in order to counteract the experience of slavery and racism.
She will draw upon her recent exhibition, “Dark Humor: African American Art from the University of Delaware,” to consider the significance of humor in contemporary art. She will discuss how black artists such as Camille Billops, David Hammons, Barkley Hendricks, and Peter Williams employ subversive humor to question the currency of cultural and racial stereotypes.
Barber is a scholar, curator, and writer of twentieth and twenty-first century visual art and performance with a focus on artists of the black diaspora living and working in the United States.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities, the Office of the Provost, and the Department of Visual Performing Arts.
Clark University’s Higgins School of Humanities’ spring dialogue symposium asks ‘What’s so funny?’
Lectures, exhibits and films examine how humor connects and divides
This spring, Clark University’s Higgins School for Humanities presents “What’s so funny?” a symposium that comprises lectures, community conversations and exhibits on humor.
“Our symposium asks how humor creates and fragments communities. What larger cultural, social, and political role does humor play? In short, what can we learn when we take jokes, comedy, and laughter seriously?” wrote Amy Richter, director of the Higgins School of Humanities.
All events listed below are FREE TO ALL and will be held on the Clark University campus:
Lecture
“The Science of Laughter”
7 p.m.
Wednesday, February 1
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
British neuroscientist and stand-up comedian Sophie Scott (University College London) will discuss the sometimes surprising science and evolution of laughter—an emotion with its roots in play and social bonding. She will explore questions such as: How and why do humans laugh? What do brain studies reveal about laughter? What happens when laughter goes wrong? This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities and the Frances L. Hiatt School of Psychology at Clark.
Lecture and exhibition
“Cartooning; Sense, Nonsense, Applications”
4 p.m.
Tuesday, February 7
Exhibition runs from Tuesday, Feb. 7, through Monday, May 22
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
Cartoonists James Sturm and Caleb Brown will look beyond graphic novels and iconic characters to emphasize cartooning’s ability to communicate complex information quickly and effectively, share powerful and precise visual narratives, and engage readers of all ages, nationalities, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Sturm, cofounder of The Center for Cartoon Studies, will curate an accompanying exhibit on “applied cartooning.” The selected images will highlight the ways the medium itself is being used to innovate and problem-solve in medicine, business, education, and other fields.
This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities, Difficult Dialogues, and the Media, Culture and the Arts Program.
Lecture
“Dark Humor and the African American Image”
7 p.m.
Thursday, February 16
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
Scholar and curator Tiffany E. Barber will draw upon her recent exhibition, “Dark Humor: African American Art from the University of Delaware,” to consider the significance of humor in contemporary art. Barber will discuss how contemporary black artists, such as Camille Billops, David Hammons, Barkley Hendricks, and Peter Williams, employ subversive humor to question the currency of cultural and racial stereotypes.
This event is part of the African American Intellectual Culture Series, and is cosponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities, the Office of the Provost, and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
Talk and book signing
“Light in the Dark: A Talk on Writing and Humor”
7p.m.
Thursday, February 23
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
Is it possible to fake your own death in the twenty-first century? With six figures of student loan debt, author Elizabeth Greenwood was tempted to find out. She set off on a foray into the world of death fraud, where for $30,000 a consultant can make you disappear, possibly forever. Greenwood will read from her book “Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud” (2016), and introduce us to men and women desperate enough to lose their identities—and their families—to begin again. She will lead a discussion on the role of humor in illuminating and exploring our darkest impulses. A book signing will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities and the Writing Center.
Lecture and book signing
“BALLS: It Takes Some to Get Some”
7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 1
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
For Chris Edwards, a former advertising creative director, changing his gender from female to male took balls…and a damn good sense of humor. How did he find the courage to come out at a company board meeting of white, middle-aged executives; to endure 28 painful and extensive surgeries; or to show up at his 10-year high school reunion? Edwards will read from his funny and poignant memoir “BALLS: It Takes Some to Get Some” (2016), and share how humor helped him re-brand himself and gain acceptance from his family, friends, and colleagues at a time when the word “transgender” was almost non-existent.
A book signing will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.
Workshop
“The Truth is Funny: An Improvisation Workshop”
7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 15
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
“The truth is funny. Honest discovery, observation, and reaction is better than contrived invention.” The words of actor Del Close have inspired countless improvisational comics. In this workshop, Dan Balel (Theater) and Gino DiIorio (Theater) will lead us in theater games and improvisation exercises to develop trust, reveal truths, and generate laughs.
This event is cosponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities and the Theatre Arts Program.
Film Screening and Discussion
“’THE LAST LAUGH’; A Film Screening and Discussion”
7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 21
Jefferson Academic Center, Room 320
“THE LAST LAUGH,” a feature documentary by Ferne Pearlstein, proceeds from the premise that the Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even the victims of the Nazi concentration camps used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any hint of comedy in connection with this horror risks diminishing the suffering of millions. So where is the line? If we make the Holocaust off limits, what are the implications for other controversial subjects— 9/11, AIDS, racism—in a society that prizes freedom of speech? Valerie Sperling (Holocaust and Genocide Studies/Political Science) and Amy Richter (History) will facilitate a conversation after the film.
This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities, the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program, and Screen Studies.
Lecture
“Brother Jonathan Runs for President: American Humor, Vernacular Values, and the Rise of Trump”
7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 28
Higgins Lounge at Dana Commons, 2nd floor
Challenges to America’s most sacred myths fuel the traditions of vernacular humor, which asserts faith in ordinary Americans and mistrust of elites. Spoof presidential campaigns by ostensibly ordinary citizens—heirs of Brother Jonathan, folklore’s quintessential American—have mocked the ideological contradictions of presidential campaigns whose vernacular values nonetheless yield elite results.
Professor Judith Yaross Lee (Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University) will consider how nearly 200 years of spoof campaigns in cartoon, video, newspaper features, and other formats highlight values and visions always at stake in the presidential race, but especially in the candidacy of Donald Trump. This event is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities, the Department of History, and the Bland Fund of the Department of Political Science.
