Dr. A. (Alberto) Godioli, PhD

Dr. Alberto Godioli is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts, focusing on humour and freedom of expression. More precisely, he analyzes how courts and online platforms deal with humorous or satirical material – from stand-up comedy to memes and cartoons – within free speech jurisprudence and content moderation. The basic idea behind his work is that a closer dialogue between judicial practice and the humanities can set the basis for a fairer, more nuanced approach to humour in legal cases (or content moderation practices) concerning issues such as defamation, hate speech, or copyright violation. Alberto is the Principal Investigator of a five-year project on this topic (‘Humor in Court,’ NWO Vidi grant, 2022-2027) and the founder of the Forum for Humor and the Law – an international platform for lawyers, humour scholars, practitioners, and anyone interested in the nexus of humour, freedom of expression, and related legal matters. An example of his research can be found in this report on humor-related jurisprudence from across the globe (Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, 2023).

Both his research and teaching are based on the idea that ‘the world has problems, not disciplines’ – which fully resonates with the YAG’s strong commitment to building bridges across disciplines, as well as between academia and society at large. Alberto's main goal as a YAG member is to help create new connections within and beyond the University, especially (but not exclusively) by contributing to the Interdisciplinarity and Public Engagement working groups.