This article describes a narrative study exploring the challenges that international teaching assistants (ITAs) encounter when using humor in North American university classrooms. Twenty participants were recruited from twelve teaching fields. Each ITA participated in two interviews and a videotaped teaching observation. The participants talked…

Scholarly communities are dependent on and often measured by their ability to attract and develop doctoral students. Recent literature suggests that most scholarly communities entail ecological niches in which the doctoral students learn the codes and practices of research. In this article, we explore the microclimate in an ecological niche of…

Outlines an interview with Robert Orben, head of Gerald Ford's speechwriting staff, concerning uses of humor in political speeches. (MH)

Loyal Jones talks about his role in the Council of the Southern Mountains, the controversy that led to its demise, founding the Appalachian Center at Berea College (Kentucky), and elitist attitudes of liberal arts colleges that hinder sincere efforts to help Appalachian people. He discusses humor as a way of simultaneously putting people on and…