About Us: Mission & Values

We see the Critical Humor Studies Association as a space to produce and promote innovative and cutting-edge research and scholarship on all aspects of humor that transcends the field’s genealogical limitations, while honoring its intellectual spirit.

We build upon the foundational spirit of literary studies, philosophy, folklore, and comedy studies, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of humor studies by embracing critical interdisciplinary inquiry and modes of analysis.

We seek to build an institutional structure and intellectual space, to forge an inclusive and stimulating platform for critical discourse and collaboration where Critical Humor Studies serves as a catalyst for social justice and cultural transformation.

We actively counter institutional and structural biases by amplifying marginalized voices and engaging with critical theory, antiracist struggles, decolonial thought, and feminist praxis.

Our intellectual impetus springs from the deep-seated belief that humor is uniquely positioned as a mode of social engagement and cultural production that can both perpetuate and disrupt dominant ideologies and normative structures.