Spring 2026 Course Search

This course will examine the comic in French theatre, literature, politics, and film in order to answer a deceptively simple question: What makes us laugh? In theoretical readings we will consider whether laughter is a universal, cross-cultural function. Additionally, we will look at special, sub-genres of the comic, such as satire and parody, in order to question the relationship between comic genres and the real world. Does comedy seek to change the world or does it merely want to point to its foibles? Is it a progressive or conservative mode?

Conducted through research that focuses on the development of Japanese subcultures in the Post World War II period, this course poses various critical inquiries about the effects of nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on contemporary global consumer society, visual culture and the production of art. We will also bring into focus the trauma revisited up on Japanese citizens and creators by the recent nuclear disaster of Fukushima.

Conducted through research that focuses on the development of Japanese subcultures in the Post World War II period, this course poses various critical inquiries about the effects of nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on contemporary global consumer society, visual culture and the production of art. We will also bring into focus the trauma revisited up on Japanese citizens and creators by the recent nuclear disaster of Fukushima.