Against the assault of laughter
nothing can stand.

- Mark Twain

In the next articulation of this course, we will engage in a directed study of the power of humor, drawing on theories of humor, jokes, and the role of race in humor. We will examine a decidedly broad array of authors, cultural texts and institutions, reading and/or citing Lucille Ball, SNL, Monty Python, Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Dave Gonzales' Homies, Jon Stewart, the Colbert Report, Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Sellers, Freud, Bakhtin, Mark Twain, Wilde, Vonnegut & P.G. Wodehouse.