The International Society for Humor Studies held a 2024 Webinar Series, featuring the Society’s newly established Specialists Interest Groups. The Series began at the 2024 ISHS Conference with a session on AI Humor hosted by Tristan Miller, Christian Hempelmann, and Julia Rayz.  The series resumed on Saturday, May 11 with the webinar, The Varieties of Humorous Experiences in Animated Films, and continued on successive Fridays through June. The final 2024 webinar on Humor, Translation, and Taboo was rescheduled for November 15, 2024.

Below is the complete Webinar schedule. Each webinar listing contains a link to the webinar recording. ISHS members should have received or can request the passcodes to the recordings. If you have general questions about the webinar series, you can contact the ISHS Executive Secretary, Martin Lampert, at humorstudies@outlook.com.  If you have specific webinar questions, you can contact the appropriate webinar organizer.


Humor and Artifical Intelligence
April 19, 2024, 5:00 pm, CDT

Organizers: Christian Hempelmann, Tristan Miller, & Julia Taylor Rayz

Presenters

Drew Gorenz & Norbert Schwarz
How Funny is ChatGPT? A Comparison of Human- and A.I.-produced jokes

Ryan Rony Dsilva & Julia Taylor Rayz
Humor Theories through the Lens of Large Language Models

Eleni Giannitzi, Vladislav Maraev, & Christine Howes
Large Language Models and Laughter: Is It Still the Best Medicine?

Robert Mankoff
Advancements in AI Humor Comprehension and Generation: Implications for the Future of Cartooning

Joe Toplyn
Witscript: The AI Machine that Makes Jokes

Link: Recording of Humor and AI
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Animated Laughter:
Varieties of Humorous Experience in Animated Films
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 8:00 am, PDT

Chairs: Terry Lindvall & William Costanzo

Presenters

Terry Lindvall
C. S. Lewis Chair of Communication and Christian Thought, Virginia Wesleyan University
Making Us Laugh: Exemplary Models and Mimetic Taxonomies of Laughter in Animated Films

William Costanzo
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of English and Film
Laughing at Cultural Norms with Animation: Transnational Perspectives

Zsofia Anna Toth
Senior Assistant Professor, University of Szeged, Hungary
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021): a Paradigm Shift Regarding Women's Humor at The Walt Disney Company

Link: Recording of Animated Laughter
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Key Issues in Humor and the Law
Friday, May 17, 2024, 8:00 am PDT

Chairs: Alberto Godioli & Laura Little

Presenters

Prof. Laura Little
Temple Law School
Comedy Collides with the Courtroom and Beyond

Dr. Alberto Godioli
University of Groningen
Dark Humor and Free Speech Jurisprudence

Dr. Sabine Jacques
University of Liverpool
Creativity, Innovation and Humour

Link: Recording of Humor and the Law
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Multimodality and Interactional Humor – Methods and Theories
Friday, May 24, 2024, 8:00 am PDT

Chairs: Elisa Gironzetti & Beatrice Priego Valverde

Presenters

Clarissa de Vries, Bert Oben, & Geert Brône
MIDI Research Group, Mobile Eye-Tracking Lab, KU Leuven
Whose Side are You On?
On the Role of Eye Gaze in Teasing Sequences in Face-to-Face Interaction

Abstract

Sabina Tabacaru
Université Paris 8, UR TransCrit
What's in a Face?
Exploring the Role of Facial Expressions as Multimodal Markers in Humorous Interactions

Abstract

Chiara Mazzocconi
Institut de Neurosciences de Systèmes, Aix-Marseille University
Watch out for Humour!
Interaction of Gaze and Laughter Functions

Abstract

Salvatore Attardo
Literature & Languages, Texas A & M University--Commerce
Discussant

Link: Recording of Interactional Humor
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Cutting Edge of Online Humor Research
Friday, May 31, 2024, 8:00 am PDT

Chairs: Liisi Laineste & Anastasiya Fiadotava

Presenters

Tsafi Sebba Elran
University of Haifa
What Do We Mean when We Talk about "Locality" in Digital Humor?

Will Noonan
University of Burgundy
When Pre-Internet Humour is Shared by Gamers Old Enough to Tell dad Jokes: Online Fan Communities and the Transmission of Adventure Game Humour across Generations

Salvatore Attardo
Texas A&M University at Commerce
Dark Brandon: Memetic Drift Meets the Politics of Hate

Noam Stein
Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto
Finding Mi-Mu: Analyzing Memes/neta in Japanese Online Media

Link: Recording of Online Humor Research
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Humor and Religion
Friday, June 7, 2024, 8:00 am PDT

Chairs: Nicole Graham & Lina Liederman

Presenters

Elisha McIntyre
Independent Scholar
Joke or Jerk? Mormons, Ex-Mormons and Apologetic Debates on Social Media

Jacob Rigal
Université Paris Cité
Rabbinic Humor: From the Talmud to YouTube

Paul S. Martin
Classics and Liberal Arts, University of Bristol
Safeguarding Liberties, Testing Limits: Satire and Religious Censorship in Stewart Lee's '90s Comedian

Mike K. Cundall
Philosophy Department, North Carolina A&T State University
Seriousness & Religion are not the Opposite of Humor & Laughter:
Why We Should Jettison the Idea that Somehow Humor is an Opposite to the Serious Wherever We may Find It

Link: Recording of Humor and Religion
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Humor and Conflict in the Global South
Friday, June 14, 2024, 8:00 am PDT

Chairs: Diego Hoefel, João Paulo Capelotti, & Rujuta Date

Presenters

Shepherd Mpofu
Languages, Media, and Communication, University of Limpopo
Racial disparagement humour in South African Social Media

Luiz Valério Trindade
International Panel on the Information Environment, Switzerland
It is not that Funny:
Disparagement Humour and Gendered Racism in Brazil

Noura Kamal
Institute for Social Anthropology, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Where Humor Meets Resistance:
The Story of Palestinian Political Prisoners

Natasha Vashisht
Department of English & Drama, University of Toronto
Puns and Pain in Palestine: Black Comedy as Resistance in Ahmed Masoud's The Shroud Maker

Link: Recording of Humor and Conflict
Use the link above to access the passcode-protected recording of this webinar. ISHS members can request the passcode from humorstudies@outlook.com.


Humor, Translation, and Taboo in 2024
Rescheduled, November 15, 2024

Chairs: Chiara Bucaria, Delia Chiaro, & Anthony Dion Mitzel

Presenters

Delia Chiaro
University of Bologna
Tacit Translation and the Taboo in the Age of the Reel

Chiara Bucaria
University of Bologna
The Adaptation of Audiovisual Taboo Humour through Paratexts

Anthony Dion Mitzel
University of Bologna
Meme Template Translation: Recursion, Cultural Nodes, and the Global Memetic Flow of Taboo and Humor

Link: Registration for Humor, Translation, and Taboo
Current ISHS members will receive an e-mail invitation and link to attend this webinar and do not need to register separately. Non-members can self-register for this webinar using link above.


AI Humor
(during the 2024 ISHS Conference, April 19-21)
Organizers: Tristan Miller, Christian Hempelmann, and Julia Rayz
Contact: Tristan.Miller@umanitoba.ca

Animated Laughter: Varieties of Humorous Experience
in Animated Films
(May 11, 2024)
Organizers: Terry Lindvall & Will Costanzo
Contact: tlindvall@vwu.edu

Key Issues in Humor and the Law (May 17, 2024)
Organizers: Alberto Godioli & Laura Little
Contact: a.godioli@rug.nl

Multimodality and Interactional Humor –
Methods and Theories
(May 24, 2024)
Organizers: Elisa Gironzetti & Beatrice Priego Valverde
Contact: elisag@umd.edu

Cutting Edge of Online Humour Research (May 31, 2024)
Organizers: Liisi Laineste & Anastasiya Fiadotava
Contact: liisi@folklore.ee

Humor and Religion (June 7, 2024)
Organizers: Nicole Graham & Lina Liederman
Contact: nicole.graham@kcl.ac.uk 
Call for papers deadline, March 31, 2024.

Humor and Conflict in the Global South (June 14, 2024)
Organizers: Diego Hoefel, João Paulo Capelotti, &  Rujuta Date
Contact: joao.capelotti@gmail.com

Humor, Translation and Taboo in 2024 (Rescheduled, November 15, 2024)
Organizers: Chiara Bucaria, Delia Chiaro, & Anthony Dion Mitzel
Contact: chiara.bucaria@unibo.it