Lisa M. Beringer is Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Defiance College. She received her PhD in American Studies from Purdue University, and her work has appeared in the Studies in American Humor and The Harlem Renaissance: An Encyclopedia of Arts, Culture, and History. She has also written several books for young adults and children, and numerous articles on popular culture and society as a freelance writer. Her current research focuses on how humor serves as a point of resistance to systemic forms of oppression.