Community Update

Mordechai
Gordon, a professor in the School
of Education at Quinnipiac
University, has published a new book entitled, “Humor,
Laughter and Human Flourishing: A Philosophical Exploration of the Laughing
Animal.”

“The central questions threaded throughout
this volume are: What does the study of humor and laughter bring to philosophy
and specifically to philosophy of education?” “How is humorist thinking
different from other modes of human knowing? What might happen if we were to
respond to the absurdity of human existence with humor and laughter? What
insights can be learned from a philosophical investigation of humor in
relationship to other human phenomena such as dreams, friendship, intimacy,
aesthetic experience and self-transcendence? And, finally, how can humor and
laughter enhance human existence and flourishing?” Gordon said.

Published in August, “Humor, Laughter and
Human Flourishing: A Philosophical Exploration of the Laughing Animal,” is
Gordon’s fifth book and first on the subject of humor.

Gordon said he began to think about this
project during a trip to London with his
daughter in which they attended numerous comedic theater shows.

“Viewing all these comedies made me realize
how much I enjoyed comedy and humor,” Gordon said. “When I got back to the
States, I started researching to see if anybody had done research on humor and
laughter in the context of my field and discipline, which is philosophy of
education. I discovered that really not much, if anything, had been written on it. That led to writing my first
article on the topic, which became the last chapter of this book, “Learning to
Laugh at Ourselves.”

The 110-page book, published by Stringer
Press, is available at the Quinnipiac bookstore and Amazon.com. Gordon's
previous books are: "Hannah Arendt and Education: Renewing our Common
World;" "Ten Common Myths in American Education;" "Bridging
Theory and Practice in Teacher Education;" and "Reclaiming Dissent:
Civics’ Education for the 21st Century."

"Renewing our Common World: Hannah
Arendt and Education" and "Reclaiming Dissent: Civics’ Education for
the 21st Century" won Critics’ Choice awards
from the American Educational Studies Association in 2002 and 2009,
respectively.

“I’m kind of an eclectic thinker and
researcher,” Gordon said. “I don’t write books to make money. I’d rather write
a book that I can look myself in the mirror and be proud of than a book that’s
going to sell thousands of copies.”

Gordon added that he will use his latest
book in his Philosophy of Humor course.

“At least I know that 20 people are going to
read it,” he joked.

Gordon came to Quinnipiac in 2001 and earned
the Quinnipiac Outstanding Faculty Scholar award in 2009. He has also been a
professor at Brooklyn College, Adelphi University, the State University of New
York at New Paltz and Levinski College of Education in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Gordon earned a bachelor's degree in
philosophy from Ohio University, a master's degree in psychology from Duquesne University
and master's and doctorate degrees in philosophy of education from Columbia
University.

Gordon lives in Hamden with his wife
Gabriela and their children Julia and Tomas.

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational,
nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two
hours from Boston. The university enrolls 6,400 full-time undergraduate and
2,300 graduate students in 58 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs
of study in its School
of Business and Engineering, School
of Communications, School
of Education, School
of Health Sciences, School
of Law, Frank
H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School
of Nursing and College
of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top
regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s
Best Colleges issue. The 2014 issue of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s
Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s
programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton
Review’s “The Best 377 Colleges.” The Chronicle of Higher Education has named
Quinnipiac among the “Great Colleges to Work For.” For more information, please
visit www.quinnipiac.edu.
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