“Humor has traditionally gotten a negative connotation throughout most of Western history,” says John Morrell, a religious studies professor at the College of William and Mary who helped found the society. “Philosophers and intellectuals have long looked down on humor.”

That’s why, since the mid-1970s, academics from disciplines ranging from philosophy to neuroscience to linguistics — many of whom were shunned by colleagues in their own fields — have come together annually in recognition of their shared fascination with humor.

An important goal of all this comedy analysis is to dispel many of the stereotypes and misassumptions long held about humor.