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The McKelvy House Scholars invite the campus to join a dinner discussion Sunday evening on the darker aspects of humor.
Dinner will begin 6 p.m. at McKelvy House, 200 High Street; RSVP by Saturday to glickmaa. Led by McKelvy Scholar Adam Glickman ’04 (Miami, Fla.), a biology major, the discussion will start 6:30 p.m. and requires no reservations.
Glickman is interested in hearing answers to a number of questions about the darker aspects of humor:
- Why can humor be so cruel?
- Why will someone make an offensive joke when that same person wouldn’t dream of actually endorsing the opinion in any other way?
- Why can we laugh when something bad happens to someone? (“think pie in the face to an anvil on the head”)
- Are offensive jokes more dangerous because they can “slip under the radar” as just a joke rather than a serious social problem?
“I’d like to see where people stand on these issues and what it says about us morally,” says Glickman.
Since 1962, the McKelvy House Scholars program has brought together Lafayette students with a wide range of majors and interests to reside in a historic off-campus house and share in intellectual and social activities. Weekly Sunday dinner discussions that engage the students in debate and exchange of ideas are the hallmark of the program. Most members also contribute to the annual McKelvy Papers, written on a topic of each person’s choice. McKelvy Scholars participate in activities together such as field trips to plays, concerts, and exhibits, and sponsor events for the campus as well.
Some past McKelvy discussions in 2003-04:
April 11 — Cults
April 4 — Link between ethical behavior and intelligence
March 28 — Five Images of Man
March 7 — Idealized body forms
Feb. 22 — Countercultures
Feb. 15 — Eternity
Feb. 8 — Bisexuality
Dec. 7 — Anger toward computers and technology
Nov. 9 — “Unnecessary” crimes
Nov. 2 — Genetic alteration
Oct. 26 — Social construction of gender
Oct. 19 — Greed as an economic force
Sept. 28 — Value
Categorized in: Academic News
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