American Comedy in the 21st Century

This class will look at the production and consumption of comedy products in America, since 2000.  The structure will rely on student participation to direct the focus - each student will curate a topic of his/her choosing - and but our topics may include anything from stand up comics to YouTube sensations, Will Ferrell movies and sports writers to Internet memes.  We will also discuss the political satire of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  The main readings for this group will come from Clay Shirky's Cognitive Surplus (2010), A Decade of Dark Humor (2011), and Satire TV (2009).