The Humor Research Conference (HRC) is a student-organized, international, multidisciplinary, all-plenary online event dedicated to the study of humor in all its facets.
The 16th annual HRC will take place March 6–8, 2026, as a live-broadcast online event, with pre-conference workshops and sessions on March 5. The conference will be live, but this year we are also adding a pre-recorded submission option. Further details will be announced soon.
The call for papers will open in mid-September 2025. If you'd like to receive notification when it opens, be sure you’ve joined our mailing list. The deadline for submissions is November 15, and acceptance decisions will be sent on December 1.
The conference is student-friendly and invites submissions on any topic related to humor studies, including and not limited to literary studies, psychology, folklore, sociology, computer science, and linguistics.
Herb Colston, University of Alberta, Canada
Steven Gimbel, Gettisburgh College, USA
Sharon Lockyer, Brunel University, United Kingdom
Mirella Manfredi, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Henri Olkoniemi, University of Oulu, Finland
Mailing List: humor@etamu.edu
Conference Email: hrc@etamu.edu
Conference Facebook* Page: facebook.com/HRC2026
Conference YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@HRCetamu
*Please use the hashtag #HRC2026 for all conference-related posts on social media.
