Each spring, the Philosophy Department is proud to host Inspiring TriVia: The Sarah L. Hoagland Speaker Series. As professor emerita of Northeastern Illinois University, Dr. Hoagland generously endowed this series to foster philosophical discussion at the intersections of race, class, and gender. Hence the title: Inspire (to breathe life into), and TriVia (the goddess of crossroads).
A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Sarah L. Hoagland for making it all possible.
Spring 2025
"Comedic Resistance"
Dr. Luvell Anderson, University of Illinois
3:05-5:00 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
Main Campus, BBH Room 102
In times of moral absurdity and political corruption, people often turn to humor as a means of coping or as a tool of resistance. Humor’s use as a cathartic remedy is well established. The popularity of shows like Last Week with John Oliver or The Daily Show, not to mention the political satire that Saturday Night Live routinely offers, are examples. In this talk, I will focus on humor’s use as both a mode and a tool of resistance. I will examine skeptical claims about humor’s potential as an effective means of resistance and the communicative obstacles racialized imagination presents.
Dr. Luvell Anderson is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Applied Philosophy of Language and The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race. He has published several academic articles on racial humor, racial slurs, hate speech, and hermeneutical impasses. He has also written for venues like The New York Times, Boston Review, HR.com, and Mediapost and has been interviewed on several podcasts. He is currently finishing up a book on the ethics of racial humor, which will be published by Oxford University Press. His latest book project is a philosophical meditation on Dave Chappelle, confrontation, and the relationship between humor, language, and freedom.
