51社区

Students in Mark Shatz鈥檚 general psychology class can be sure of one thing as they prepare to take his multiple-choice exams: Choice 鈥淓鈥� is never the correct answer.

From the moment students enter his classroom and receive his syllabus鈥攕alted with references to Yoda, Judge Judy, and 鈥淭he Simpsons鈥濃�攖hrough the last day of class and the final exam鈥攚here choice 鈥淓鈥� is always a joke鈥擲hatz infuses humor as a tool to build relationships that facilitate learning.

鈥淚 view humor as an educational and social lubricant,鈥� explains Shatz, professor emeritus of psychology at 51社区 Zanesville. 鈥淲hen used properly, it enhances connections鈥攖o people, material, and places.鈥�

Shatz was a brave professor who took鈥攁nd aced鈥攖he late OHIO faculty member Mel Helitzer鈥檚 class, 鈥淗umor Writing for Fun and Profit,鈥� known for its intimidating final exam: a five-minute stand-up comedy performance before a live audience.

Shatz went on to emcee the course鈥檚 final, teach the class at the Zanesville Campus, and co-author the second and author the third editions of Helitzer鈥檚 top-selling book, . Today, and because of Helitzer鈥檚 influence, Shatz is an expert on the systematic use of humor in the classroom and infuses comedy into his body of work in educational psychology.

Shatz says relationships that take place in an educational setting come in three forms and enhance the learning process: student-to-student, student-to-teacher, and, most importantly, student-to-material.

鈥淚f you build the first two conditions鈥攜ou build a sense of community and you make the teacher accessible鈥攖hen it makes it so much easier to teach students the material and connect them to it,鈥� Shatz says. 鈥淥ne of the ways I facilitate those connections is through the use of humor.鈥�

Shatz has a refined and nuanced view of humor. It isn鈥檛 so much about jokes鈥攁lthough jokes, typically at his own expense, occur inside his classroom. Instead, humor is about fun, making the instruction more interactive, interesting and memorable.

鈥淲hen you use humor, you鈥檙e more likely to get people to show up to class. You鈥檙e more likely to get people to pay attention and participate,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou create the experience, and you can increase the likelihood that learning is going to occur.鈥�

Shatz views humor as an invitation, bridging the student-teacher gap, allowing for interactive instruction that brings lessons learned to life, and encouraging the belief that learning is fun.

The inviting and fun nature of humor plays particularly well at 51社区, he says.

鈥淚 invite students, in part, in the classroom by using humor,鈥� Shatz says. 鈥淚 think 51社区, and Athens in particular, does it by being unpretentious. When you walk onto campus, it invites you in. When you stand at Court and Union, you feel enclosed. You feel invited. That鈥檚 what makes OU, OU. It invites people to have a relationship鈥攚ith the area, with the University, within their field of study, and so forth.鈥�

Feature photograph: Mark Shatz and his son, Ethan Shatz, a first year, take a swing with Rufus as he studies the finer points of psychology. Photo by Ellee Achten, BSJ 鈥�14, MA 鈥�17