2023 International Society for Humor Studies Conference

The Place and the Date

The 33rd ISHS Conference will be held at Boston University from, July 3 to July 7. You can click on the button above to visit the 2023 Conference website. ISHS offers three types of awards to graduate students planning to present at our annual conferences. You can find information on these awards in the Conference Awards section of this page.

International Conferences from 1976 to 2023

From 1976 to 1988, humor scholars met seven times at international conferences to discuss advances in humor research. Since 1989, the International Society for Humor Studies has been the primary sponsor of these conferences with annual meetings alternating between North America and other regions of the world. Since 2002, the Society has recognized each year emerging scholars and/or exceptional graduate students in humor studies with a special plenary session featuring their work.

Cardiff, Wales, 1976
Chairs: Antony Chapman, University of Leeds,
and Hugh Foot, Cardiff University

Los Angeles, CA, 1979
Chairs: Harvey Mindess & Joy Turek, Antioch University

Washington, D.C., 1982
Chairs: Rufus Browning, American Humor Studies Assoc.,
Larry Mintz, University of Maryland
and Herb Cummings, Workshop Library on World Humor

Tel Aviv, Israel, 1984
Chair: Avner Ziv, Tel Aviv University

Cork, Ireland, 1985
Chair: Desmond McHale, University College, Cork

Tempe, Arizona, 1987
Chairs: Don & Alleen Nilsen, Arizona State Univ.

West Lafayette, Indiana, 1988
Chair: Victor Raskin, Purdue University

Laie, Hawaii, 1989
Chairs: Margaret Baker & Jesse Crisler,
Brigham Young University–Hawaii

Sheffield, England, 1990
Chair: Mark Glazer, University of Sheffield

Saint Catharines, Canada, 1991
Chair: Ann-Marie Guilmette, Brock University

Paris, France, 1992
Co-Chairs: Judith Stora-Sandor & Nelly Feuerhahn, Univ. of Paris

Luxembourg, 1993
Chair: Larry Sherman, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

Ithaca, New York, 1994
Chair: Mary Ann Rishel, Ithaca College
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Birmingham, England, 1995
Chair: George Paton, Aston University

Sydney, Australia, 1996
Co-Chairs: Jessica Milner Davis & John McCallum,
View the 1996 Program

Edmond, Oklahoma, 1997
Chair: Amy Carrell, University of Central Oklahoma
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Bergen, Norway, 1998
Chair: Sven Svebak, Norwegian University of Science & Technology
View the 1998 Program

Oakland, California, 1999
Chair: Martin Lampert, Holy Names College
Visit the 1999 Website
View Abstracts (Password Required)

Osaka, Japan, 2000
Co-Chairs: Hiroshi Inoue, Kansai Univ. & Goh Abe, Tokushima Bunri Univ.
Visit the 2000 Conference Website

College Park, Maryland, 2001
Chair: Larry Mintz, University of Maryland
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Forli, Italy, 2002
Chair: Delia Chiaro, University of Bologna

Chicago, Illinois, 2003
Co-Chairs: Judith Kaplan-Weinger & Richard Hallett, Northeastern Illinois Univ.

Dijon, France, 2004
Chair: Lorene Birden, University of Bourgogne
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Youngstown, Ohio, 2005
Chair: Salvatore Attardo, Youngstown State Univ.
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Copenhagen, Denmark, 2006
Chair: Martin Führ, Danish Univ. of Education

Newport, Rhode Island, 2007
Chair: Margaret Mathias, Salve Regina University
View the 2007 Program

Alcalá de Henares, Spain, 2008
Chair and Co-Chairs: Juan Garcia Cerrada, Carmen Valero-Garces,
and Begona Carbelo Baquero, University of Alcalá

Long Beach, California, 2009
Chair: Amy Bippus, California State University, Long Beach
View Abstract Book (Password Required)

Hong Kong, June 24-27, 2010
 Chair: Xiaodong Yue, City University of Hong Kong

Boston, Massachusetts, July 5-9, 2011
Chair: Patrice Oppliger, Boston University

Kraków, Poland, June 25-29, 2012
Chair: Wladyslaw Chlopicki, Jagiellonian University
Visit the 2012 Conference Registration Website

Williamsburg, Virginia, July 2-6, 2013
Chair: Larry Ventis, College of William and Mary
Visit the 2013 Conference Registration Website

Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 7-11, 2014
Chair: Sibe Doosje, University of Utrecht

Oakland, California, June 29-July 3, 2015
Chair: Martin Lampert, Holy Names University
Visit the 2015 Conference Registration Website
View Abstracts (Password Required)

Dublin, Ireland, June 27-July 1, 2016
Chair: Eric Weitz, Trinity College

Montreal, Canada, July 10-July 14, 2017
Chair: Jean-Marie Lafortune, University of Quebec at Montreal
Visit the 2017 Conference Registration Website

Tallinn, Estonia, June 25-June 29, 2018
Chair: Liisi Laineste, Estonian Literary Museum
Visit the 2018 Conference Registration Website

Austin, Texas, June 24-June 29, 2019
Co-Chairs: Kiki Hempelmann, Salvatore Attardo,
Elisa Gironzetti, and Dale Koike

ISHS Webinar Series, April-June, 2021
Martin Lampert, ISHS Executive Secretary
Visit the 2021 ISHS Webinar Page

Bertinoro/Forli, Italy, June 27-July 2, 2022
Chair: Delia Chiaro, University of Bologna
Visit the 2022 Conference Website

Boston, Massachusetts, July 3-July 7, 2023
Chair: Patrice Oppliger, Boston University
Visit the 2023 Conference Website
View Abstracts (Password Required)

2024 To Be Announced
Proposals for the 2024 ISHS Conference are under consideration.

Conference Awards

At the 1999 ISHS Conference in Oakland, California, the Society for the first time awarded special recognition to outstanding doctoral students pursuing research programs in humor studies. At the 2002 Conference in Forli, Italy, Delia Chairo (University of Bologna) and Willibald Ruch (University of Zurich) presented the first Emerging Scholar Awards (ESAs) to outstanding humor researchers who had recently completed doctoral degrees.  Through 2005, the Society presented two to four ESAs at each of its Conferences. To recognize both graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, the Society replaced the ESAs in 2006 with separate conference awards for outstanding graduate students and for more advanced scholars doing notable research in humor studies. These new laurels were aptly named the Graduate Student and the Scholarly Contribution Awards. In 2012, the Society added the Don and Alleen Nilsen Young Scholar Award (DANYS) and in 2019 added the Christie Davies Award (CDA) to recognize exemplary graduate student work presented at ISHS Conferences.

The Society's Working Rules on Awards provide the nomination guidelines for Graduate Student and Scholarly Contribution Awards. The Guidelines for Student Awards provide the current procedures for all three student award categories.

Emerging Scholar Awards, 2002-2005

Forli,
Italy
2002

Jodi Nelms Eisterhold, Applied Linguistics, Georgia State University
Martin Führ, Educational Psychology, Danish University of Education
Giselinde Kuipers, Arts and Culture, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
Birgit Rissland, University of Lueneburg, Germany

Chicago,
Illinois
2003

Elisa Everts,Georgetown University
Christian Hempelmann , University of Memphis
Stephen Kercher, History, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Dijon,
France
2004

Rachele Antonini, Tranlation and Languages, University of Bologna
Sharon Lockyer, Media Studies, De Montfort University
David O'Mara, Applied Computing, University of Dundee
Julia Taylor, Mason, Ohio, USA

Youngstown, Ohio
2005

Dorota Brzozowska, Polish Philology, University of Opolski
Béatrice Priego-Valverde, Linguistics, Université de Provence

Graduate Student Award, 2006-2023

Copenhagen, Denmark
2006

Chiara Bucaria,Translation, University of Bologna
Andrea Samson , Psychology, University of Fribourg
Katrina Triezenberg, Linguistics, Purdue University

Newport, Rhode Island
2007

Gil Greengross, Anthropology, University of New Mexico
Julia Hans, English, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Ryota Nomura, Educational Psychology, Kyushu University

Alcalá,
Spain
2008

GSAs were not awarded in 2008. However, the Society presented certificates of merit to: Liisi Laneste (Folklore, Estonian Literary Museum), Maren Rawling (Psychology, Swinburne University), and Andrea Samson (Psychology, University of Fribourg).

Long Beach,
California
2009

Ursula Beermann, Psychology, University of Zurich
Cornelia Cody, American Studies, University of Maryland
Debbie Iancu-Haddad, Anthropology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Hong Kong,
China
2010

Clare Watters, Italian Studies, University of Birmingham
Till Weingaertner, Japanology, Freie University, Berlin

Boston,
Massachusetts
2011

Audrey Adams, Linguistics, Texas A & M University, Commerce
Tracy Platt, Psychology, University of Zurich

Krakow,
Poland
2012

Lillian Boxman, Communication and Journalism, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (DANYS Recipient)
Rebecca Higgie, Communication and Cultural Studies, Curtin University, Australia
Seyed Mahmood Farjami, Communication and Journalism, University of Science, Malaysia
Kim Edwards, Clinical Psychology, University of Western Ontario

Williamsburg,
Virginia
2013

Chelsae Hay, English, Tareleton State University, Texas, USA (DANYS Recipient)
Sara Caird , Clinical Psychology, University of Western Ontario
Anna Cairns, English, Oxford University

Utrecht,
Netherlands
2014

Jennifer Hofmann, Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland (DANYS Recipient)
Sarah Seewoester Cain, Linguistics, Rice University, Texas, USA
Tristan Miller, Computer Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Germany
Dick Zijp, Art Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Oakland,
California
2015

Alan Roberts, Philosophy, University of Sussex, United Kingdom (DANYS Recipient)
Ori Amir, Psychology, University of Southern California, USA
Stephen Skalicky, Applied Linguistics, Georgia State University, USA

Dublin,
Ireland
2016

Sonja Heintz, Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland (DANYS Recipient)
Kate Fox, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Elisa Gironzetti, Linguistics and Languages, Texas A & M University - Commerce, USA

Montreal,
Quebec
2017

Ying Cao, Western Sydney University, Australia (DANYS Recipient)
Shuming Bai, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Antony Mitzel, University College London, United Kingdom

Tallinn,
Estonia
2018

Adam Levinson, Yale University, Connecticut, USA (DANYS Recipient)
Joonas Koivukoski, University of Helsinki, Finland
Gabriella Valentino, Swansea University, United Kingdom

Austin,
Texas
2019

Anastasiya Fiadotava, Belarusian Stat University, Belarus (DANYS Recipient)
Mitchel Ingram, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Melisa Redondo, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paul Butterfield, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, USA (CDA Recipient)

Bertinoro,
Italy
2022

Guillem Castañar, University of Barcelona, Spain (DANYS Recipient)
Nikita Lobanov, University of Bologna, Italy
Katerina Zacharopolou, University College London, United Kingdom
Dick Zijp, Utrecht University, Netherlands (CDA Recipient)

Boston,
Massachusetts
2023

Alexander Sparrow, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (DANYS Recipient)
Diego Hoefel, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal
Florence Madenga, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Adam Levinson, Yale University, Connecticut, USA (CDA Recipient)