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2026 Humor Research Conference

March 6-8, 2026

100% Online

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.

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Submissions

The call for papers is now open! The deadline for submissions is December 1, and acceptance decisions will be sent on December 15.

Learn more on our "Submissions" tab.

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.

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2026 Keynote Speakers

Herb Colston, University of Alberta, Canada

Steven Gimbel, Gettysburg College, USA

Sharon Lockyer, Brunel University, United Kingdom

Mirella Manfredi, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Henri Olkoniemi, University of Oulu, Finland

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Time Zone

All events are scheduled in Central Time (CST/CDT, UTC/GMT -6; the same time zone as Dallas, TX, for reference).

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Stay in Touch

*Please use the hashtag #HRC2026 for all conference-related posts on social media.