#12: Political Humor in Modern America: What’s So Funny?
Instructed by Alison Thomas at American University
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“I can see Russia from my house!”
A red skirt-suit-clad Tina Fey delivered that line to thunderous applause on Saturday Night Live in 2008, when the comedian was impersonating Sarah Palin: the former Governor of Alaska and, at the time, a nominee for Vice President. Fey would later win a Primetime Emmy Award for her role.
In the years since 2008, many late-night talk show hosts have turned to politically-focused satire as a method of engaging with their audience. In Political Humor in Modern America: What’s So Funny?, American University instructor Alison Thomas and her students study the growing trend of developing campaign awareness through political comedy.
Political Humor in Modern America: What’s So Funny?
School: American University
Course: Political Humor in Modern America: What’s So Funny?
Instructor: Alison Thomas
Course Description:
In this course students examine the use of humor as a rhetorical tool in gaining, establishing, and/or maintaining political power and making marginal voices heard. They study the evolution of American political comedy broadly from the mid-twentieth century to contemporary campaigns, reviewing various comedic forms, along with theories that help us understand the role of comedy as a tool of rhetoric, as a social connector, and as a space for marginalized voices to be seen and heard. Topics include the emergence of racial, ethnic, and gender-based stand-up comedy, television comedy, and the evolution of satirical essays and political cartoons during elections. Examples from written texts, visuals, and media are used to explore and analyze how humor continues to give voice to the marginal and shapes American social and political life.
Ask the Instructor: Alison Thomas
Why did you elect to offer this course at AU this year?
I had taught a writing class a few years back that featured humor as a topic around which we centered our study of writing. After that course, I started to think about the different styles of humor present in modern society. The American Studies program at American is interested in this kind of subject area, so they asked me to revamp the class to fit it within the arenas of American history and American politics.
My home at AU is within the Literature Department. I typically teach literature, writing, and creative writing. Within those courses, I focus heavily on how how students think about text and information. Research is about information literacy. Where do we find information? How do we make sense of the information we’re provided with? In Political Humor, I’m coming at the study of political comedy from that angle — what if we look at comedy as if it were a text?
How do you explore contemporary political humor within the course?
It’s an election year, so there’s been a heightened level of interest in taking this course. AU is situated in Washington, D.C., and it has a reputation for having a student body that is engaged in politics. But beyond just serving the students who are working towards a career as an elected official, AU instructs students who are interested in small-scale politics, or who are interested in exploring politics from a wider perspective than pure political theory.
So, taking a look at political humor is an interesting lens through which to examine American politics. Political satire is something that’s really been popularized in the years since 2008, when having a politician appear on television in a comedic setting became a necessary part of campaigning. That was the year that Tina Fey was Sarah Palin on SNL. Think of contemporary SNL skits, or late-night talk shows like The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Appearing on a comedic show and being able to poke fun at yourself shows a level of humility that politicians have not historically demonstrated. It’s a process of humanizing politicians —making candidates more relatable, and therefore likable, to voters.
Beyond looking at modern forms of political humor, my class also questions how political humor relates to the distribution of power within American society. How does comedy amplify voices that have been marginalized? How does it contribute to the marginalization of those voices? We look at comedians like George Carlin and the issue of practicing free speech upon college campuses. There are sections of the course that looks at so-called “identity politics” and “cancel culture”.
What kind of assignments do you typically give to your students? Do they have an opportunity to create their own political satire?
One project that I give to my students explores making comedy as rhetoric. Students listen to comedians discuss the process of creating their comedy projects, then emulate their processes to create comedy themselves. Afterwards, they reflect on the experience of crafting comedy both as a writing exercise, and as an art form.
The final project within the course is to create a podcast. Students partner with their peers to conduct research into an important moment of political history. Then each student chooses a comedian, who’s point of view they will use to examine their chosen historical moment. Inserting their chosen comedian into their chosen historical moment provides them with an opportunity to think critically and analytically about American history in ways they may not have otherwise, and still provides them with space to be creative.
What do you ultimately hope that your students take away from participating in Political Humor?
Every day students leave class saying that they could have talked for hours more. Everyone seems really interested in the subject. Ultimately, I hope that my students — who come from a variety of departments including literature, political science, and other areas — are able to examine politics from a different perspective than they are used to.
If you could teach a course on any topic at all, what would it be and why?
This one. It’s an exciting course to teach, and there’s so much material to delve into. Every day, I come up with new topics for the class based on the direction the class conversation takes. I’m excited to see where the course goes!
NEXT: #11: Wine Sensory Analysis
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