HUMOR AND MODERN MEDIA

Catalog description

Humor is considered one of the most pleasurable positive emotions. The questions asked will include What makes something funny? Why do people find someone falling down funny in one culture and tragic in another? What are the cross-cultural implications of humor and how have they been affected by a global worldview? How has the Internet changed our view of humor, now that technologies like YouTube make it possible for anyone to be a director or cinematographer with a worldwide audience? Topics will include psychoanalysis; superiority; reversal theories of humor; the psychology and psychobiology of humor; and humor, laughter and mental health. | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements. Co-requisites: None. Notes: Satisfies a HuSS elective.