What Laughter Tells Us: Asian Americans, Comedy and Belonging

Through clips of Asian American stand-up comedians, Professor Michelle Liu explores how humor can change the patterns of belonging that everyone in the United States has inherited.

Laughter shapes the way we listen to each other, and can be a signal of who belongs—and who doesn’t.

While everyone finds different things funny, we all have experienced laughter. And what we find funny shapes how we interconnect. Through clips of Asian American stand-up comedians, Professor Michelle Liu explores how humor can change the patterns of belonging that everyone in the United States has inherited.

When we want to learn about the past, we turn to history books. When we want to learn about how the past continues to live within us, we can turn to humor. Join Liu for a conversation about why laughing matters.

Michelle Liu (she/her) is a professor of English and the associate director of writing programs at the University of Washington. She specializes in writing and exploring ideas about identity, history, emotion, and storytelling. She has taught for nearly 20 years with the goal of helping people interconnect their hearts, minds, and experiences in their learning. She earned her PhD in American Studies from Yale University.  Liu lives in Seattle.