2008 Woodie Awards
SBU professor published in political humor book
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Dr. Josh Compton, department chair and assistant professor of Communication at Southwest Baptist University, has two chapters published in the recently released edited book "Laughing Matters: Humor and American Politics in the Media Age" published by Routledge.
The book, edited by Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan Morris, assistant professors of Political Science at East Carolina University, is a collection of quantitative and qualitative assessments of political humor impacts.
Jeffrey Jones of Old Dominion University calls the book "a definitive collection of contemporary scholarly writing on political humor's place and increasingly influential role in American political culture."
Thirty-one scholars contributed to the work, representing such universities as University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Pennsylvania, Drake University, University of Illinois, St. Francis Xavier University, University of Florida, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Washington, Arizona State University, Ohio University, Franklin College (Lugano, Switzerland) and University of Delaware. Doris Graber, one of the nation's leading political communication scholars, contributed the final chapter to the collection.
One of Compton's chapters, "More Than Laughing? Survey of Political Humor Effects Research," engages in an extensive overview of extant political humor research, including political cartoons, late night television comedy, Internet satire and television sitcoms.
The chapter offers a myriad ideas for future research in political humor and specifically effects research.
"While there are plenty of na've theories as to how humor functions in politics, there really hasn't been a lot of empirical research," said Compton. "But that's changing, and some of the latest results are pretty surprising."
One of these findings, Compton pointed out, is that late night political humor affects more than attitudes and knowledge. It also has impacts on political behaviors and even cynicism toward the political process.
The book, edited by Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan Morris, assistant professors of Political Science at East Carolina University, is a collection of quantitative and qualitative assessments of political humor impacts.
Jeffrey Jones of Old Dominion University calls the book "a definitive collection of contemporary scholarly writing on political humor's place and increasingly influential role in American political culture."
Thirty-one scholars contributed to the work, representing such universities as University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Pennsylvania, Drake University, University of Illinois, St. Francis Xavier University, University of Florida, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Washington, Arizona State University, Ohio University, Franklin College (Lugano, Switzerland) and University of Delaware. Doris Graber, one of the nation's leading political communication scholars, contributed the final chapter to the collection.
One of Compton's chapters, "More Than Laughing? Survey of Political Humor Effects Research," engages in an extensive overview of extant political humor research, including political cartoons, late night television comedy, Internet satire and television sitcoms.
The chapter offers a myriad ideas for future research in political humor and specifically effects research.
"While there are plenty of na've theories as to how humor functions in politics, there really hasn't been a lot of empirical research," said Compton. "But that's changing, and some of the latest results are pretty surprising."
One of these findings, Compton pointed out, is that late night political humor affects more than attitudes and knowledge. It also has impacts on political behaviors and even cynicism toward the political process.
Be the first to comment on this story