IAS 'On Laughter': a two-day conference

To say the least, academics struggle with laughter. We can analyse jokes, dissect irony, theorize ‘the comic,’ and laugh ourselves, but when it comes to talking about laughter – often uncontrollable, sometimes inappropriate – we stop short. Perhaps it is too intimate, too revealing, too awkward.

‘On Laughter,’ a two-day conference hosted at the Institute of Advanced Studies at University College London on 11-12 July 2019, will address laughter itself. The humanities and the natural and social sciences all have something valuable to contribute. The conference will be divided into 9 different panels:

• Laughter, evolution, and human vocalisation
• Laughter and violence
• Our laughing brains
• Troublesome laughter
• Laughing in hope and despair
• Laughter and Memory
• Therapeutic Laughter
• Sharing in laughter
• Sensibilities of laughter

Please download the programme here and a map to get to the IAS here.

All welcome. Please note that there may be photography and/or audio recording at some events and that admission is on a first come first served basis. Please follow this FAQ link for more information.