Black Humour and Laughter: The Ingredients of Resilience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clients

In this course, Dr. Vanessa Lee (BTD, MPH, Ph.D., SFHEA), University of Sydney, explains how “black” or “gallows” humour helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to cope with the many difficult aspects of life. Lee explains the ancient Greek origins of the word “humour”, the theories about why we laugh, and the scientific evidence related to what happens when we laugh. Laughter for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is partly about healing from personal and collective trauma and fighting adversity; thus, she presents statistics on bias of Australians against these groups, along with comments on what anti-racism is. Dr. Lee’s talk is enlivened by poems she wrote and numerous personal stories.