Announcing Conference on Humour, Satire and Play in Researching and Teaching History

We’re pleased to be announcing the Humour, Satire and Play in Researching and Teaching History conference at the University of Northampton campus, 27-28 June 2024

Our keynote speakers will be:

• BAFTA award-winning songwriter for BBC’s Horrible Histories, comic, broadcaster, and novelist Dave Cohen
• Dr Sharon Lockyer, Founding Director of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) and Associate Dean for Equality and Diversity, Brunel University

Humour, satire and play are central features of human life, past and present. For historians, exploring humour can offer a window into the political, social, and cultural dynamics of previous times. Humour is underpinned by many spoken and unspoken cultural norms, values and ideals, and what is deemed ‘funny’ has changed dramatically is differing historical contexts. The roles played by humour are also diverse and it has been used to speak truth to power, to bring pleasure and enjoyment to life and to develop senses of community and wellbeing.

This two-day conference aims to interrogate the many uses of humour, and related topics of satire and play, both in the past and in the contemporary world.

To what degree has humour shaped history? In what ways have forms of humour provided people with a sense of agency and identity? Can humour be both empowering and disempowering? How has humour changed across time? Does humour allow us to understand the human life cycle, from childhood to old age?

Moreover, humour can be an important teaching and even therapeutic tool. What are the benefits and challenges of using humour in teaching contexts? How can aspects of humour and play be incorporated into curricula, and what issues does this pose to issues of equality, diversity and inclusion? Can humour be an exclusionary teaching practice?

Finally, what is the role of history and humour beyond teaching and learning contexts? How might historical cultures of humour and play be used in caring and therapeutic contexts?

We invite contributions in the form of 20-minute papers and proposals for 90-minute panels.

We also welcome other formats based on 20-minute and 90-minute timeframes, such as interviews, performances and dramatizations, and workshop sessions.

Potential themes for papers and presentations may include:

• The history of humour, comedy and political satire
• Cultures of humour and play
• Humour and the lifecycle
• Humour as a means to providing agency and identity
• Humour as a form of power and control
• Racism, antiracism and humour
• The political value of humour
• Cultures of satire, irony
• Popular culture and humour
• The history of emotions and humour
• Humour and the body
• Material culture and humour
• Gender, ethnicity and class in humour
• Disability and humour
• LGBTQ+ history and humour
• Online humour and historical themes
• The value of humour in teaching and learning contexts
• Humour as a means to bring history ‘alive’
• The place of humour in therapy and care settings

We welcome submissions from researchers at all career stages, from postgraduate students to research professors. We are also especially keen to receive presentation proposal from professionals such as teachers, healthcare workers and independent educators and writers.

Please submit abstracts to Siobhan Hyland: Siobhan.hyland@northampton.ac.uk by 31 January 2024.

If you have any questions or queries about potential submissions, please contact the conveners Professor Mark Rothery (mark.rothery@northampton.ac.uk) and Professor Paul Jackson (paul.jackson@northampton.ac.uk).

Professor Paul Jackson

Paul is a historian of twentieth century and contemporary history. His main teaching and research interests focus on understanding the impact of radical and extreme ideologies on societies, past and present.

He is co-lead for two research centres at the University, the Centre for the Advancement of Racial Equality (CARE) and the Centre for Historical Studies.