JOIN US! ***...in fall 2020. Conference postponed due to coronavirus!***

For the most up-to-date information on speakers, time tables, and conference submissions, see *HERE*.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to our 2nd annual humor workshop!

On behalf of Dr. Jenny Hofmann, Fiorina Giuliani, Prof. Willibald Ruch, and myself, we are pleased to announce that our exciting, interdisciplinary humor workshop for early career scholars has just received funding from the Graduate Campus to take place a second time. This year, we will also offer the option of virtual attendance if we receive enough interest from applicants, in the interest of sustainability and inclusion.

Reserve the dates now and plan to be in Zurich on January 30-31, 2020. We’ll have keynotes from top international humor scholars such as Sam Yam, a top 40 b-school prof under 40 (National University of Singapore), the well-published Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock (University of Hamburg), Valentina Bambini (Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia) and Rene Proyer (Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg), as well as paper development roundtables, critical topic discussions, and networking galore.

To apply, please send the following in a single, combined PDF to Dr. Jenny Hofmann by September 30, 2019 (extended to October 31, 2019):

• a 2-page (max.) CV; include your contact information, current affiliation, grants/awards, presentations, and publications,

• a short (1/4 page) motivation letter including your aims for the workshop (e.g., related to your research and career), and

• an abstract of a humor-related paper, including title, all authors and affiliations (250 words max).

All materials will be treated confidentially and only shared with the conference participants and experts. Of note, if you want to attend virtually, you still need to officially apply in the same way as the physical attendees.

More information will be posted here as we have it (e.g., a full, final list of confirmed speakers and a more detailed schedule), so stay tuned!

1st Annual Workshop on Workplace Humor SUCCESS!

We recently welcome 20 international experts and early career scholars for our first annual winter workshop on workplace humor at the University of Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. Cecily Cooper (Miami Business School) and Brad Bitterly (Michigan Ross) presented their recent workplace humor work and gave feedback for management scholars, while Paul McGhee (Professor Emeritus) and Tracey Platt (University of Wolverhampton) presented their thoughts on the humor habits and gelotophobia and gave feedback for psychology scholars. Thanks again to everyone for their participation and active engagement!

For a summary of the key takeaways, see here. This was created to enhance long-term learning from the event but also as an inclusion initiative for interested persons who were unable to attend.

I represented UZH business to develop and organize this interdisciplinary workshop with my super co-organizers Jennifer Hoffman and Christian Kastner (UZH Psychology). Our event was funded by a generous grant from the UZH Graduate Campus. As suggested by our title, we hope to make this a regular event. So stay tuned for details about a 2020 event!

No funny business: Leadership soft skills for a digital, dispersed, and diverse age

I’m delighted to share that I just won a Lehrkredit teaching innovation grant to develop and lead a new course on soft skills for our future leaders at the University of Zurich.

Such a course is increasingly necessary in light of the rising rates of digital disruptions, computer-mediated-communication, and employee diversity, as soft skills like humor separate humans from robots and are critical for successfully interacting with people with diverse backgrounds and interests. This interdisciplinary course will blend science and practice with an all-star line-up of guest lecturers (e.g., Swiss comedian Fabian Unteregger).

Master's students will get the first chance to participate in this course in Fall 2019, after which it will be offered once more for master’s students (in Spring 2020) and again for PhD students (in Fall 2020).

Did you hear the one about the (free) workplace humor workshop?

We are pleased to announce an exciting, interdisciplinary event for early career scholars interested in humor research. Please reserve the dates now and plan to be in Zurich. Research at all stages of development is welcome, as we will have paper roundtables for more developed work as well as science slams for new ideas. There will be no participation fees due to the gratefully acknowledged funding by the UZH Graduate Camps. UZH Prof. and humor expert Willibald Ruch will welcome you, while the following international humor experts will give keynotes and serve as mentors: 

• Dr. Brad Bitterly (OB/Business) Post-Doc, University of Michigan, USA
  Research interests are humor, status, power, and trust

• Dr. Cecily Cooper (OB/Business) Professor, Associate Professor, University of Miami, USA
  Research interests are humor, leadership, fairness, and trust

• Dr. Paul McGhee (Psychology) Professor Emeritus
  Research interests are development of humor in children, primates, and across the lifespan; sense of humor; humor training and malleability; humor response

• Dr. Tracey Platt (Psychology) Senior Lecturer, University of Wolverhampton, UK
  Research interests are gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at), comic styles, class clowns, laughter, facial expressions of amusement

Application criteria:

The workshop is aimed for early career academics (e.g., PhD students, post docs, assistant professors), and exceptional master's students (depending on availability). Applications can be sent until December 1st to Dr. Jamie Gloor including:

• Extended Abstract/Full Paper (what you can share, depending on the stage of your research)

• CV (current affiliation, email, education, experience, and presentations/publications)

• Short summary of motivation for participation and expectations (max. 200 words)

As many of our mentors also study trust, power, status, and leadership, we also encourage submissions on these topics.