CA 103 - Evolution of Comedy II

Credits: 4 credits

Provides a broad survey of comedy in film, television, and audio recording to explore the evolution of forms, styles, and meanings. The course also examines the creative agency and individuality (authorship) of particular comedy directors, television creator-producers, performers, and collaborative teams in the broader context of comedy forms and styles. Alongside exploring the poetics of mass culture comedy, the course investigates mass culture comedy’s social and political significance as a regulator of the status quo as well as a force of satire, protest, and even rebellion. In that regard, issues of social identity and diversity, as well as questions of exclusion and inclusion, permeate students’ investigations into comedy. Simply put, the course repeatedly asks: who is laughing at whom, and why? What are the social and political stakes of mass culture comedy? How are the poetics of mass culture comedy related to the social and cultural significance (and signification) of comedy?