Sacred Humor: Tricksters, Clowns, and Contraries

3 credits

REL_ST-3042

Religious Studies
College of Arts and Science

This class will explore the notion that humor plays an important role in conveying sacred meaning. To that end, we will need to adopt a fairly common vocabulary regarding the concepts “humor” and “sacred,” and will do so while exploring some of the key aspects of the sacred humor discourse, especially the “trickster,” “clown,” and “contrary” motifs in mythic narrative.