Edge Hill University
Educating the community through humour and laughter – can comedy lead to social change?
The Comedy for Social Change Research Network brings together comedians, grass-roots organisations, community members and academics to explore the role of laughter and humour in highlighting inequalities, oppression and discrimination and promoting social justice.
During this interactive workshop we will provide a brief overview of the work of the network to reflect on our experiences of drawing on the artform of comedy to tackle social issues and share the experiences of those who are ‘othered’ within society. In addition, we are keen to explore the role of humour and laughter as an educational tool. Whilst we are hopeful of the power of comedy it is important to acknowledge the many ways in which humour has been used as a weapon to discriminate and exclude further reinforcing negative stereotypes During our session we hope to provide space to work together to navigate the complexities and nuances that surround this work.