Welcome to the Home of the American Humor Studies Association

Call for Papers
AHSA at the South Atlantic Modern Langauge Association
November 7-9, 2008
Louisville, KY

Wits and Wags in Southern Literature

The American Humor Studies Association invites papers that analyze characters of any period in southern literature identified as wits and/or wags. Humor has traditionally and historically played a significant role in the work of southern writers from the colonial period into the 21st Century and is often delivered by characters featured as savvy and humorous observers of time, place, and occasionally self. While the distinction between terms is rather ambiguous, characters considered wits tend to function more as detached spectators, noted for the intellectual ability to discern humorous situations; whereas, wags tend to function more actively and typically generate and participate in humorous events. Southern Humor is often satirical, playful, self-deprecating, and sometimes rather dark, which often functions as a powerful form of cultural critique and social scrutiny.

Possible topics might include but are not limited to the following:

· Colonial Humor, for example William Byrd, Ebenezer Cook
· Mid-Nineteenth Century Southwestern Humor
· A character the community deems a fool but who eventually emerges as a Wit and/or a Wag.
· Storytellers: Style and Tale
· Verbal Sparring
· Dark Historical Issues made Light
· Sophisticates versus Plain Folk

Send 150-250 word abstracts (electronic submissions are welcome) by April 15, 2008 to:

Gretchen Martin
The University of Virginia's College at Wise
1 College Avenue
Wise, VA 24293
gim5v@uvawise.edu

The American Humor Studies Association Panels
at the American Literature Association Conference
May 22-25, 2008
San Francisco, CA

"Rabelaisian Humor in America"

Chair: Gregg Camfield, University of California, Merced.

1) "Feral Infants and the Outlandish Growth of Satire in Infinite Jest," Andrew Warren, University of California, Irvine.

2) "Gargantua in the Quarter: Roamin' Catholic Sensibility in A Confederacy of Dunces," Peter Kunze,
Florida State University

3) "'You Killed Kenny!': Rabelaisian Death Parody in Adult Animation," Angela Farmer, Auburn University (2007)

'For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread': Humor on the Cutting Edge

Chair: Sharon McCoy, University of Georgia

1) "Presenting Mark Twain: Keeping the Edge Sharp," Regina Faden, Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, Hannibal, Missouri

2) "Making Fun of Ourselves: Ethnic Self-Parody and Identity in Black Blackface Minstrelsy," Mark H. Leahy, Purdue University

3) "Treading on Dangerous Ground: Race and Authenticity in African American Standup Comedy," Lanita Jacobs-Huey, University of Southern California

Comic-Con: A Field Study in Pop Culture
July 23-27, 2008

In this one-week program, students can earn academic credit while studying the dynamics of marketing and fan culture at the largest comic arts event on the continent, Comic-Con, July 23-27, 2008 in San Diego, CA. Students will become participant-observers of Comic-Con International, and will study the intersection of mass marketing and fan cultural practices through ethnographic research. Students will also have the rather unique opportunity to make a public presentation of their observations and tentative conclusions at the end of the week as a part of the Comic Arts Conference held in conjunction with Comic-Con. In addition, we will host a number of experts, including a director of marketing, a published scholar, and others as a part of the program. For more information and any inquiries, please visit the program's website or contact the program direct, Dr. Matthew J. Smith.

Please address any questions or comments, or report any errors, to Christopher Dickman, webmaster.

This site was last updated 3/4/08