Location
Humour and/in Politics: Crafting Spaces of Political Engagement
This symposium will explore how humour is used as a space for multiple forms of political work. Moving beyond a focus upon humour as a space or form of political resistance, papers from invited experts will consider the multiple ways in which humour and (un)laughter are used in relation to politics: by citizens, civil society, humourists, and politicians.
The keynote papers will be followed by time for both discussion and selected short presentations from attendees on emerging themes in their own research on humour and politics.
Outcomes
Participants will:
- Develop deeper insights into the intersections between humour and politics, and the role of humour in doing various forms of political work;
- Develop critical appreciation of the role of humour in everyday political practices in diverse national contexts;
- Gain insights into different methodologies that can be used to explore the practices, outcomes, and governance of humour in different socio-political contexts.
Contributors
- Dr Laura S Martin is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Glasgow. Drawing on over 14 years of fieldwork in Sierra Leone, her research critically explores the intersections peace, violence, gender, and humour.
- Dr Simon Weaver is a Reader in Media and Communications at Brunel University London. He is an internationally recognised expert on humour and comedy, with a key focus on understanding the links between populism and comedy, and critiques of racist and offensive humour.
- Dr Caroline Leicht is a Lecturer in Digital Media at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, media and politics, with a key focus on political and gendered representation in non-traditional news sources.
- Professor Dmitry Chernobrov is Professor of Communication and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on foreign policy narration, contestation, and perception with an emphasis on humour in international relations and political communication.
- Dr Daniel Hammett is a Senior Lecturer in Political and Development Geographies at the University of Sheffield. His research addresses everyday (geo)politics, nation-building and citizenship practices – including a focus on the role of political cartoons as sites of political work in the continual (re)defining of nationalism and citizenship.
Please note: The WRDTP is committed to sustainability and to reducing the waste from excess catering at events. A key challenge here is non-attendance at events. From October 1st 2025, the WRDTP will be changing the way we manage the non-attendance of PGR students who have booked place/s at WRDTP Training events. Any PGR student who does not inform the WRDTP (via training@wrdtp.ac.uk) that they will not be able to attend a WRDTP event at least 3 working days before the event takes place will have the cost of their place deducted from their RTSG (if a WRDTP-funded student), or have this charged to their department (if not funded by the WRDTP). This will allow us to better plan for events and to avoid catering waste. Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this matter.
This is an in-person only event at the University of Sheffield.
Bookings will close at 9am on Friday 6th February.
When booking your place, we ask that you use your institutional (.ac.uk) email address and complete all fields of the booking form. Thank you for your understanding.
