Advertisement 
 
 Beginning in September 2016, undergraduates looking to brush up on their on-screen performance skills or comedy-writing abilities will be able to work toward a bachelor of fine arts degree in the “Comedic Arts.” 
 
 “This is going to be a hands-on program,” said Martie Cook, Emerson’s associate chairwoman of visual and media arts department. According to the college’s website, classes in the major include elements of sitcom production, modes of comedy production, comedy writing for late night, comedy editing and several others. “This new degree strengthens Emerson’s commitment to the study of comedy by adding academic rigor and institutional resources from faculty and industry professionals at the main Boston campus and at our Los Angeles facility,” said Emerson College President Lee Pelton. “This is a great moment for Emerson to bring what has become one of our distinctive strengths to the forefront,” said Doug Herzog, an Emerson alumnus and president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, which oversees Comedy Central, in a statement. “Some schools develop NFL quarterbacks. We develop great comedic talent.” 
 
 Last year, Emerson announced the rollout of a minor concentration called “Comedy: Writing and Performance.” Cook said the success of that program was so overwhelming that making it a major, in a time when comedy is so prevalent for millennials, was a no-brainer. “For Millennials and Generation Z, it’s a second language for expressing and reflecting the world as they understand it.”
– Emerson College will soon offer a degree "for those who want their studies to be a joke," cracks MassLive.com: a bachelor of fine arts in comedic arts. Thanks to the "marked rise of comedy's impact on American culture and its global influence," the Boston school will offer students a chance to learn the history and theory of comedy, traced back to Greeks and Romans, plus comedy performance, production, editing, and writing. "It's not going to be just lecturing," program creator Martie Cook tells the Boston Globe. "I think what this program offers that's unique is that you are going to have to actually do it." She notes former students of the school, including Jay Leno, Denis Leary, Bill Burr, and Henry Winkler, may even pop in as guest lecturers. Officials decided to introduce the four-year program, which begins in the fall of 2016, after offering a minor program in comedy last fall. The response was overwhelming. "Comedy is more relevant than ever," Cook says, per CBS News. "For millennials and Generation Z, it's a second language for expressing and reflecting the world as they understand it." Alum Doug Herzog, the president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group who oversees Comedy Central, says the program has found a perfect home. "Some schools develop NFL quarterbacks," he says. "We develop great comedic talent."