FALL 2026

HUMA 142
Monday and Wednesday, 2 - 3:15 p.m.

Michael Dango
Associate Professor, Department of English and Creative Writing
Director, Program in Media Studies

Carly Thomsen
Associate Professor, Department of English and Creative Writing

Why is everyone laughing? Should you be laughing, too? What, after all, makes something funny? This course guides students through both the critical study of humor and the creative production of comedy in a diverse range of possible media forms, from stand-up to TikTok. By not only studying jokes and theories of jokes, but also writing jokes in a community of peers, students will navigate firsthand the complicated ways that humor gets at social and political questions. What does the need to laugh teach us about the human condition? How do jokes both create group belonging and police group boundaries? How do we account for differences in sense of humor? Is there such a thing as politically correct humor—or should there be? When should we laugh, or are there certain topics that we should never joke about? Who gets to decide?

Fall 2026

HUMA 143
Tuesday and Thursday, 1 - 2:15 p.m.

Tabea Linhard
Joseph and Joanna Nazro Mullen Professor in the Humanities
Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Throughout history, people have crossed natural and political borders, but today migration has become one of the most debated and urgent issues worldwide. This course invites students to explore what happens when border crossing is framed as a “crisis”—a moment of heightened risk, instability and difficult decision-making. We will examine who defines these situations as crises, who is held responsible, and who bears their heaviest burdens. Students will consider the experiences of migrants, host communities and institutional actors, as well as the cultural, political and ethical dimensions of border crossings. The course concludes with a further question: can engaging with individual accounts of border crossings—whether written, audio or visual, and accessed through testimonies, oral histories, literature and other cultural materials—help alleviate or prevent crisis conditions?