International Society for Humor Studies

International Humor Conferences

  
 
 

2009 International Society for Humor Studies Conference

The Place and Date

The 2009 ISHS Conference will be held from June 17 to June 20, 2009 on the campus of the California State University at Long Beach. Preparations for the Conference are currently underway, and on the Conference website at www.ishs2009.com, you will find information on registration and paper submissions as well as on the conference agenda, accommodations, and local activities. Current ISHS Members are eligible for a 15% discount on registration.

Call for Papers

For the 2009 ISHS Conference, scholars, professionals, and students are invited to submit 250 word proposals for papers, posters, and colloquia, and panels related to humor research. You can submit a proposals on the Conference website at www.ISHS2009.com. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2009. An ISHS Program Committee will evaluate all entries and provide notification of acceptance by March 23, 2009.

All prospective paper presenters must register for the entire conference and pay registration fees at the time that they submit their proposal. Presentations should be planned according to the following guidelines:

  • Colloquia and panels should be designed for 75 minute sessions with up to four presenters.
  • Individual papers should be planned for 15 minute presentations.
  • Poster sessions will run for 75 minutes, and each poster will have a 4 by 5 foot space for presentation.

If you have questions about submissions, you can e-mail Conference Convener Amy Bippus at ISHS2009@yahoo.com.

Graduate Student Awards

All ISHS graduate student members, planning to attend the 2009 ISHS Conference in Long Beach, are eligible to apply for a Graduate Student Award (GSA). As part of their conference application, interested students must submit (1) a letter of intent to compete for a GSA, (2) a description of their research program within humor studies, (3) a presentation proposal, and (4) all required registration materials and fees. GSA recipients present their work at a special session of the annual conference and receive (1) a certificate of achievement, (2) a stipend to reimburse their Conference registration fees, and (3) waived fees to selected ISHS-endorsed seminars and workshops. Additional information on Scholarly Contribution and Graduate Student Awards in the Society's Working Rules on Awards.
 

International Humor Conferences from 1976 to 2010

From 1976 to 1988, humor scholars met seven times at international conferences to discuss advances in humor research. Since 1989, the International Society for Humor Studies has been the primary sponsor of these conferences with annual meetings alternating between North America and other regions of the world. Since 2002, the Society has recognized each year emerging scholars and/or exceptional graduate students in humor studies with a special plenary session featuring their work.
Cardiff, Wales, 1976
Chairs: Antony Chapman, University of Leeds, & Hugh Foot, Cardiff University		 Edmond, Oklahoma, 1997
Chair: Amy Carrell, University of Central Oklahoma
Los Angeles, CA, 1979
Chairs: Harvey Mindess & Joy Turek, Antioch University		 Bergen, Norway, 1998
Chair: Sven Svebak, University of Trondheim
Washington, D.C., 1982
Chairs: Rufus Browning, American Humor Studies Assoc., Larry Mintz, University of Maryland, & Herb Cummings, Workshop Library on World Humor

Oakland, California, 1999
Chair: Martin Lampert, Holy Names College

Visit the 1999 Conference Website
Tel Aviv, Israel, 1984
Chair: Avner Ziv, Tel Aviv University

Osaka, Japan, 2000
Co-Chairs: Hiroshi Inoue, Kansai Univ. & Goh Abe, Tokushima Bunri Univ.

Visit the 2000 Conference Website
Cork, Ireland, 1985
Chair: Desmond McHale, University College, Cork		 College Park, Maryland, 2001
Chair: Larry Mintz, University of Maryland
Visit the Humor Center at the Univ. of Maryland
Tempe, Arizona, 1987
Chairs: Don & Alleen Nilsen, Arizona State Univ.		 Forli, Italy, 2002
Chair: Delia Chiaro, University of Bologna
Visit the 2002 Conference Website
West Lafayette, Indiana, 1988
Chair: Victor Raskin, Purdue University		 Chicago, Illinois, 2003
Co-Chairs: Judith Kaplan-Weinger & Richard Hallett, Northeastern Illinois Univ.
Visit the 2003 Conference Website
Laie, Hawaii, 1989
Chairs: Margaret Baker & Jesse Crisler, Brigham Young University–Hawaii		 Dijon, France, 2004
Chair: Lorene Birden, University of Bourgogne 
Visit the 2004 Conference Website
Sheffield, England, 1990
Chair: Mark Glazer, University of Sheffield		 Youngstown, Ohio, 2005
Chair: Salvatore Attardo, Youngstown State Univ.
Visit the 2005 Conference Website
Saint Catharines, Canada, 1991
Chair: Ann-Marie Guilmette, Brock University

Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3-7, 2006
Chair: Martin Führ, Danish Univ. of Education
Visit the 2006 Conference Website or View 2006 Conference Pictures
Paris, France, 1992
Chair & Co-Chair: Judith Stora-Sandor & Nelly Feuerhahn, Univ. of Paris

Newport, Rhode Island, June 28-July 1, 2007
Chair: Margaret Mathias, Salve Regina University

Visit the 2007 Conference Registration Website   View the 2007 Program

Luxembourg, 1993
Chair: Larry Sherman, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

Alcalá de Henares, Spain, July 7-11, 2008
Chair and Co-Chairs: Juan Garcia Cerrada, Carmen Valero-Garces,
and Begona Carbelo Baquero, University of Alcalá

Visit the 2008 Conference Registration Website
Ithaca, New York, 1994
Chair: Mary Ann Rishel, Ithaca College		 Long Beach, California, June 17-20, 2009
Chair: Amy Bippus, California State University, Long Beach
Visit the 2009 Conference Registration Website
Birmingham, England, 1995
Chair: George Paton, Aston University		 Hong Kong, June 24-27, 2010
Chair: Xiaodong Yue, City University of Hong Kong
Sydney, Australia, 1996
Co-Chairs: Jessica Milner Davis & John McCallum, Univ. of New South Wales		 2011 ISHS Conference
Under Consideration
 

Conference Awards

At the 1999 ISHS Conference in Oakland, California, the Society for the first time awarded special recognition to outstanding doctoral students pursuing research programs in humor studies. At the 2002 Conference in Forli, Italy, Delia Chairo (University of Bologna) and Willibald Ruch (University of Zurich) presented the first Emerging Scholar Awards (ESAs) to outstanding humor researchers who had recently completed doctoral degrees.  Through 2005, the Society presented two to four ESAs at each of its Conferences. To recognize both graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, the Society replaced the ESAs in 2006 with separate conference awards for outstanding graduate students and for more advanced scholars doing notable research in humor studies. These new laurels were aptly named the Graduate Student and the Scholarly Contribution Awards. In 2006, the Society awarded three Graduate Student Awards.

The Society's Working Rules on Awards provide the nomination guidelines for Graduate Student and Scholarly Contribution Awards.
Emerging Scholar Awards, 2002-2005

Forli, Italy,

2002

Jodi Nelms Eisterhold, Applied Linguistics, Georgia State University
Martin Führ, Educational Psychology, Danish University of Education
Giselinde Kuipers, Arts and Culture, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
Birgit Rissland, University of Lueneburg, Germany

Chicago, Illinois

2003

Elisa Everts, Georgetown University

Christian Hempelmann, University of Memphis
Stephen Kercher, History, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Dijon, France
2004

Rachele Antonini, Tranlation and Languages, University of Bologna

Sharon Lockyer, Media Studies, De Montfort University

David O'Mara, Applied Computing, University of Dundee

Julia Taylor, Mason, Ohio, USA
Youngstown, Ohio
2005

Dorota Brzozowska, Polish Philology, University of Opolski

Béatrice Priego-Valverde, Linguistics, Université de Provence
Graduate Student Awards, 2006-2008
Copenhagen, Denmark, 2006

Chiara Bucaria, Translation, University of Bologna

Andrea Samson, Psychology, University of Fribourg
Katrina Triezenberg, Linguistics, Purdue University
Newport, Rhode Island, 2007

Gil Greengross, Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Julia Hans, English, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Ryota Nomura, Educational Psychology, Kyushu University
Alcalá de Henares, Spain, 2008

GSAs were not awarded in 2008. However, the Society presented certificates of merit to recognize exempary
student papers. Receipients of these certificates were: Liisi Laneste (Folklore, Estonian Literary Museum),
Maren Rawling (Psychology, Swinburne University), and Anrdrea Samson (Psychology, University of Fribourg).