The Australasian Humour Studies Network (AHSN) is dedicated to research into comedy and humour-related topics and to connecting humour scholars in different academic disciplines and locations across the world.
As our name implies, our core membership is in Australia and New Zealand. Our network has grown from 40 members and 10 discipline areas in 1997 to over 350 scholars and practitioners in more than 25 different disciplines and professions.
We offer a program of annual Conferences and other resources, including links to the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS), other regional humour research groupings and the European-based International Summer-School in humour and laughter.
Our conference proposals are always peer-reviewed to ensure quality and to guarantee wide participation from different perspectives, including those of practitioners as well as academic specialists. After all, multi-disciplinary enquiry is the key to achieving significant insights into the complexity of humour.
Membership of the AHSN mailing list is free of charge for receiving our occasional “Humour Studies Digest” with news and announcements of forthcoming events. Our annual conference and some other events require payment of a registration fee, as the AHSN is not supported by any grants. We do offer a number of fee-waivers as competitive scholarships for outstanding research students.
The AHSN is governed by a small Board of officers and appoints a larger Review Panel of established scholars to provide peer-review across its many disciplines and practice-areas.
AHSN Research Student Scholarship Awardees
Fellows in the Order of the Jess-ters