April RoundTable
“Using Humor in Your Work”
When: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Time: 6:00 – 7:30
Facilitators: Liz Brenner & Vic Massaglia
Where: University of Minnesota Law School Room 471 (http://www.law.umn.edu/contact/directions.html)
Please RSVP to dina.bergren@waldenu.edu no later than April 13, 2010. We will be serving food at our next meeting, so please RSVP to ensure there is enough for everyone. Also, if you have any food allergies or preferences, include that in your RSVP.
Using Humor in Your Work
In the spirit of April Fool’s day and as we gear up for the MCDA Conference http://mcda.net/events/spring-conference/2010-spring-conference/, we thought it would be fun to explore using humor in our work. During these very stressful, challenging times it’s extremely important to gain perspective and to step back and laugh, and explore how to use humor in our work in career development. Scholars have stated that “Humor has been cited as a desirable trait in the helping professions…” (Nevo, 1996) and “Humour is a direct expression of unconscious processes. It brings together opposites, highlights contradictions and shows up the absurdity which makes us laugh” (Bloomfield quoted in Goldin & Brodan, 1999).
Topics to be discussed at this RoundTable will include:
- Humor with a purpose (why humor?)
-The use and timing of humor in career counseling
-Cultural considerations
-Types of humor
-Context and more!
Please bring your cartoons, humorous stories, and jokes. Feel free to send Liz (elizabethgrace1@gmail.com) your suggested blogs, YouTube/video clips, links and/or other resources we can share at the RoundTable. We will have internet access at the RoundTable so we can share and view any resources from the web together.
Selected resources:
Nevo, O. (1996). Uses of humor in career counseling. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, March, 188-196.
Bordan, T. & Goldin, E. (1999). The use of humor in counseling: The laughing cure. Journal of Counseling and Development, Fall (77), 405-410.
We will send copies of the above resources to those that RSVP to this RoundTable (plus a bonus cartoon or two!)
Here are some more resources to get you started:
Article from Monster.com about Workplace humor:
http://career-advice.monster.com/in-the-office/Work-Life-Balance/Workplace-Humor-Guide/article.aspx
Career Counseling “spoof” from GW Law School:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsnZQik4-Ys&feature=player_embedded#
Silly Job Interview – Monty Python:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP0sqRMzkwo
“Above all else: go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” ~Hugh Sidey