How to Get Hit on the Head and Laugh About It: Humor in the Formation of Self

Students come to a university for many reasons, but rarely would one say that one of those reasons is to tell (or listen to) jokes. But I think humor can be much more central to students’ educational experience than they, or we, realize. This paper explores what role humor might play in the academic identities of university students. It does not call on teachers to begin telling jokes as a way of engaging students with course material. Rather, it asks teachers to recognize how comedic activities and identities that seem to undercut traditional classroom decorum can be necessary to intellectual development.