Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010, Weiser Hall, and virtually on Zoom. The webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email.

Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/8rRqG.

Building on his book The Time of Laughter: Comedy and the Media Cultures of Japan, Professor Humphrey examines how comedy and laughter’s timing have shaped media temporality in Japan from the television era to the present. He demonstrates that, despite fundamental changes in media over the past half-century, comedy and its laughter have been indelible forces in informing beliefs and debates on media in Japan. Unifying while sowing discord, drawing in viewers while simultaneously alienating them, comedy and laughter speak to the inner contradictions of media.

David Humphrey is an associate professor of Japanese and global studies at Michigan State University, where he also serves as director of the Japanese Studies Program. Additionally, he is an affiliate of the Center for Japanese Studies at U-M. He is the author of The Time of Laughter: Comedy and the Media Cultures of Japan (U-M Press, 2023) and has published numerous articles in journals, including the Journal of Japanese Studies, Media, Culture & Society, and AsiaScape. Currently, he is working on a second book that examines AI and discourses of media attention in Japan.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at cjsevents@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.