ANTH 204 - Anthropology of Humor

The course will introduce students to the 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.