Students used inquiry to invest folklore in their community. As part of the C3 inquiry arc students defined questions, connected folklore to a discipline, gathered data from their community and communicated information. Students' agency drove each of the projects as the students determined how much they would investigate each topic. Students…

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children's humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We…

Higher education students are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of being successful in oral academic presentations (OAP) in their academic endeavors. For English as a second language students in English-medium institutions, it also provides them with opportunities for language socialization. However, succeeding in the delivery of an…

Rodeo clowns entertain crowds during and between rodeo events, such as bull riding and steer roping. While these events take place in the center of the arena, rodeo clowns walk along the outskirts and provide comic narrative. Between events, rodeo clowns take center stage and perform brief sketches to keep the crowd entertained. Rodeo clowns…

This dissertation takes a discursive approach to Hawai'i stand-up comedy, which is a highly dramaturgical genre, and it examines the cultural specificity of Hawaii comedy in an explicitly interactional context. This culturally-specific performative genre is a discursive site where comedians and their audiences jointly construct multivocal humor…

This article presents the 62 books chosen by "School Library Journal's" editors as the best of the year. While novels include some historical settings and contemporary concerns, it is fantasy that continues to reign supreme. More original, and more creative than ever, it includes selections that are frightening, edgy, wildly funny, electrifying,…

In line with recent Conversation Analytic work on language learning as situated practice, this article investigates how interactants can create language learning opportunities for themselves and others in and through social interaction. The study shows how the participants of "Big Brother Finland," a reality TV show, whose main…

Recruitment pieces are often part of a university's larger marketing effort or branding. With the assistance of consultants, admission officers conduct research and often know more about prospective students than students may know about themselves (Gose 1999). Why do admission offices often have a difficult time reaching target audiences?…

Much of the sociological curriculum often represents society as tragedy. This article explores the incorporation of a society as comedy component in introductory courses at two institutions using the sociological insight and social critique of comedians. A general discussion of parallels between the comedic eye and the sociological imagination is…

This article explores the use of ironic performance in education, particularly around issues of human rights. I examine my own efforts to engage audiences with the history of domestic espionage and sabotage by the intelligence agencies of the United States. This is a history well known to some marginalized counterpublics (see Fraser, 1997), but…

The use of humorous texts in the writing class can help students improve skills in effective writing while encouraging critical thinking and an increased range in expression. In addition, because of the accessible nature of humor and the focus on purpose and audience that is necessary when writing it, students show a natural inclination toward…