Break up your day by joining hosts Kiara Mikita, PhD (she/her), Sexual Violence Educator, and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper (they/them) and their featured guests they share thoughts and views about the panel’s thematic question: Should we separate the art from the artist, or the joke from the teller? The group will take up this question as they contemplate expressions of humour from a variety of joke forms, perspectives, and audiences.

Featured Guests:

Jane Doe

An author, educator, activist and litigant in the law suit Jane Doe v the Toronto Police in which they were found guilty of negligence and discrimination in their sexual assault investigations. Her case is taught in law schools internationally, as is her book “The Story of Jane Doe” (Random House 2004). Jane Doe’s original research into what she calls the “fugitive pieces” of sexual assault examines the publication ban, police warnings, the language of rape and the use and efficacy of the sexual assault evidence kit. She has received numerous awards for her work including two doctorates in law. Jane Doe is committed to the use of art as a tool in her work and to the intersections of race, colonialism and sexism in deconstructing sexual violence.

Zack Marshall (he/him) MSW, PhD

Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Community Health Sciences | Graduate Program Director, Community Health Sciences

Zack Marshall (he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences with interdisciplinary training in psychology, social work, and community health. Building on a history of work with queer and trans communities related to mental health, harm reduction, and sexual health, Zack is passionate about how we can leverage research for transformative social change. His current projects focus on research production, knowledge synthesis, and the ethics of research with individuals and communities who experience marginalization and other forms of oppression, including 2SLGBTQ+ people. Zack is committed to collaborative mentorship models and in creating spaces that centre groups who have been historically underrepresented and undervalued in academia.

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THINK IT’S TOO RISKY TO MAKE JOKES ANYMORE?

Join us throughout Sexual Violence Awareness Month and explore comedy about sexual violence. We will consider how and why humour can connect or divide us, why being funny today matters, and how to make edgy jokes that land.

Join Sexual Violence Educator, Kiara Mikita, PhD and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper Throughout May

Come learn and laugh with Sexual Violence Educator, Kiara Mikita, PhD (she/her) and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper (they/them), as they explore the community-building, risk-taking, and cathartic laughter that comedy about sexual violence makes visible. Join them in challenging the popular misconception that increasing awareness about sexual violence means that “you can’t make jokes anymore.” Join Kiara and Em this month as they make clear that playful engagement, critical thinking, and being funny in interpersonal interactions can be inclusive–not mutually exclusive–acts.

Some of the media our facilitators might speak about are included in this Sample Media List that webinar participants are welcome to explore.

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Think Sexual Violence Awareness Month can't include humour? Think again!

It’s probably safe to assume that most of us have heard that there’s nothing funny about rape, and, therefore, by extension, there’s nothing funny about sexual violence. We agree. There is nothing funny about people sexually violating others.

So, why take up comedy about sexual violence?

The short answer is that we want to learn more about how and what we can do about sexual violence, together. Laughter is an expression and an experience that can bring us together. We think there is much to learn from the wisdom of other approaches and experiences that can deepen our work in preventing, intervening, and responding to sexual violence. Comedy can offer us new ways to look at the world, our work, and ourselves, and playfully lowers our guards in the process.

If you feel hesitation or anxiety about exploring jokes about sexual violence, please know that we take up this work with care, consideration, and resources to facilitate thoughtful and powerful learning opportunities for those who choose to share in this with us.

Should We Separate the Art From the Artist, or the Joke From the Teller?