Educational Film Comedy: Laughing and/about Learning
Project Funding: FWF Austrian Science Fund (Erwin Schrödinger program) J4882
Project Duration: 01.09.2025-31.08.2028
Project Lead: Joachim Schätz
Project Partners: University of Maryland, College Park (Research Institution), University of California Berkeley (Research Institution), Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital History (Research Institution – return phase), AV Geeks Film Archive (Cooperation Partner), Austrian Film Museum (Cooperation Partner)
“Educational Film Comedy” proposes the first sustained investigation into the history and theory of mixing comical and educational modes of filmmaking. Funded by an Erwin Schrödinger scholarship (FWF Austrian Science Fund, 10.55776/J4882), the project explores (a) educational films, videos and programs that have used comical effects and comedic frameworks, and (b) comedies that reference and emulate the formulas and tropes of educational film and video for their own (parodic, satirical, nonsensical, etc.) ends. The project argues that in both these cases, comedy and education inflect and interpret each other in ways that provide substantial insight into the relationships between pedagogy, media technology and entertainment from the turn of the 20th century to the present. These will be untangled by combining ‘useful cinema’ studies, comedy and humor studies, and the history of education and knowledge.
The project asks: How and under which conditions has comedy been utilized in educational films and videos? What do comedic takes on the educational moving image (such as parodies and satires) contribute to a history and theory of educational film and video? What does educational film comedy (meaning both comedy in and about the educational moving image) reveal about the mutual relationships between the moving image, humor, and concepts of pedagogy and knowledge in the 20th and early 21st century?
The project’s main objective is to write an English-language monograph on educational film comedy. The book’s planned structure involves two parts: The first provides a conceptual framework and a synoptic analysis of overall findings, the second will highlight certain key aspects via a selection of in-depth case studies.
To achieve this result, the project will develop a conceptual framework; collect, document, categorize relevant moving image and contextual materials (including research in European and US archives); and write up a synoptic analysis of the overall findings and research ten case studies.
The project research and writing will be conducted during two one-year stays at US universities hosted by renowned film scholars: The first year will be hosted by Associate Professor Oliver Gaycken at University of Maryland, College Park. For the second year, Assistant Professor Nicholas Baer, will host the project at University of California, Berkeley. Both locations allow for research in relevant archives nearby. The monograph will be completed during a one-year return phase at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital History in Vienna.