Sensory Studies

Sensory Curricula, Syllabi, Etc.

This space is dedicated to advancing the education of the senses. It presents an array of syllabi for courses which touch upon the senses. It also documents a range of techniques for training the senses for research, performance and other purposes – including enjoyment.

In the first section, you will find links to a number of companion websites, such as Senses-based Learning (Maastricht University) and In-Touch (UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London). The second section offers a cornucopia of course outlines, which might be useful if you are preparing to teach a course on the senses for the first time, or simply to compare notes. The syllabi range from the anthropology of the senses to literature and the senses and from sensory history to religion. The third section lists a series of resources (journal articles and books) that bring a theoretical lens to bear on the education of the senses, or sensualizing the curriculum.

COMPANION WEBSITES

Senses-based Learning
Maastricht University

In-Touch: Digital Touch Communication
UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London

Sensory Orchestration for Multimodal Literacy in Primary Education
Australian Catholic University, Brisbane

Training the Senses
Marres, House for Contemporary Culture

SYLLABI

Anthropology

Scores for Living: Performance, Place, and Sensory Ethnography
Dara Culhane and Peter Dickinson
Simon Fraser University
Link to syllabus

Sensory Studies: Theories & Methods
Mikkel Bille and Holger Schulze.
PhD School at the Faculty of Humanities at University of Copenhagen
Link to Syllabus

MUSI 255: Sound Studies: Anthropology and the Art of Sound Experience
Noel Lobley
University of Virgina
Link to Syllabus

Anthropology of Skill & Craftwork: Explorations of the Intelligent Body in Education & Work
Professor Trevor H.J. Marchand
Royal Anthropological Institute
Link to syllabus

Anthropology 3612 The Body in Anthropological Perspective
Dr. Angela Glaros
Eastern Illinois University
Link to syllabus

ANT 455 – Anthropology of Senses
Yeditepe University
Link to syllabus

Sensibilidad y Representación: los sentidos y lo social
Ana Maria Ulloa
Universidad de Los Andes
Link to Syllabus

Teaching Sensory Anthropology
Paula Serafini
Society for Cultural Anthropology, American Anthropology Association
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Fieldschool for Ethnographic Sensibility 2016
Marko Zivkovic
University of Alberta
Link to syllabus

Fieldschool for Ethnographic Sensibility 2017
Marko Zivkovic
University of Alberta
Link to syllabus

Sensory Ethnography
Marina Peterson
The University of Texas at Austin
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sensitizing Theory
Kathleen Stewart
The University of Texas at Austin
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Sensory Ethnography in the Himalayas
David Germano, Ana Cristina O. Lopes, James D. Gentry
University of Virginia
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sensory Ethnography
McGill University
Lisa Stevenson
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sensory Studies of Science
University of Vienna
Alexandra Supper
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

The Anthropology of Vision, Memory & The Senses
Manchester University
Andrew Irving
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Introduction to Anthropology of the Senses
William Hope
Anthropology, Colby College
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Anthropology of the Senses
Natasha Myers and Zulfikar Hirji
Anthropology, York University
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Anthropologie cognitive : les descripteurs sensoriels
Joël Candau
Anthropology and Sociology, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture
Tim Ingold
Anthropology, University of Aberdeen
Link to syllabus (.doc)

Anthropology of Sound
Stefan Helmreich
Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Culture, Embodiment, and the Senses
Erica James, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Link to syllabus

Sensory Worlds
Martin F. Manalansan IV
Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Link to syllabus (.doc)

Anthropology of the Senses
Helen Vallianatos
Anthropology, University of Alberta
Link to syllabus (.doc)

Places, Things & Bodies
Marko Zivkovic
University of Alberta
Link to syllabus

Digital Ethnography: An Introduction to Theory and Practice
Jake Dean
Link to syllabus

Topics in Community Engagement: Cine Vivo: Community-Engaged Sensory Ethnography
Professor Greg Cohen,
UCLA, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Link to syllabus

The Sensing Body: The Anthropology of Sensory Experience
Thalia Gigerenzer
Princeton University
Link to syllabus

Visual, Sensory and Digital Anthropology
Sussex University
Link to syllabus

Sensory walking: teaching methods in motion
Prof Rajko Muršič
Royal Anthropological Institute, Dept. of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology
Link to syllabus

Sensory Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of Our Senses in the World
Bates College
Link to syllabus

History

Making Sense: The Social Significance of Sensory Perception
Joshua D. Rubin
Bates College
Link to Syllabus

Visual Culture in Early Modern Latin America
Barbara Mundy, Fordham University
Link to syllabus

ARTH 450 — Advanced Seminar in the History of Art and Architecture: “Art and the Senses”
May Chew
Concordia University, Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Canada
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

History of Perception
Michael Rossi
University of Chicago
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Observing and Representing: History of the Senses
Alexandra Supper
Maastricht University
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

History of the Senses in Colonial America
Andrew Kettler
University of Toronto
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Voir avec les cinq sens. Sur les effets de synésthesie dans l’histoire de la peinture.
Luc Bergmans
Sorbonne Université
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Altman Seminar: Sensory Knowledge
Charles Victor Ganelin and Elisabeth Hodges
Miami University, Ohio
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

African American History and the Five Senses
Kate Johnson
DePaul University, Chicago, USA
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Media Technology and the History of the Senses
David Parisi
College of Charleston, Charleston, USA
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

History of the Senses
Santa Clara University
Matthew Newsom Kerr
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Knowing by Sensing
Caro Verbeek
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)
Blog entry and video

Sensory History / The Senses in History
Princeton University
Emily Thompson
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Media and the Senses
Jonathan Sterne & Cornelius Brock
Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

History and the Senses
Keith Erekson
History, University of Texas at El Paso
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Later Imperial China: A Sensory History
Carla Nappi
University of British Colombia
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

 

 

 

Religion

Sense and Sensuality in Indian Religious Literature
University of Southern California
James McHugh
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Religion and the Senses
Department of Religious Studies – University of Colorado at Boulder
Sam Gill and John Thibdeau
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Sensual Religion
Hamilton College
Brent Plate
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Sensational Materialities: Sensory Cultures of Religion in History, Theory, and Method
American Studies – Yale University
Sally M. Promey
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Religion and the Five Senses
S. Brent (Rodriguez) Plate
Religious Studies, Hamilton College
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Religion and the Senses
Lauren Osborne, Whitman College
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

RLG236H1: Material Religion
University of Toronto
Link to syllabus

Sociology

Sens(e)tizing Sociology
University of Warwick, Department of Sociology
Discussion Groups
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sociology 169F: Cultural Perspectives of Food
Jill Bakehorn, UC Berkeley
Link to syllabus

Literature

Literary Representations of the Five Senses
Colleen Kennedy
Ohio State University
Link to Syllabus(.pdf)

Sense and Sensuality in South Asia.
University of South Carolina – General Education Arts and Letters
James McHugh
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

South Asian Sensoriums
Tyler Williams, University of Chicago
Link to syllabus

Experiencing the World Through the Five Senses
Ingrid Pierce and Meng Wang, Purdue University
Link to syllabus

Literature and Disability
Benjamin Reiss, Emory University
Link to Syllabus

General

Making Sense
Steve Ferzacca
Anthropology, University of Lethbridge
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

The Politics of Sensation
Kennan Ferguson
Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Sense, Perception and the Mediated Body
Benjamin Griswold
School of Art and Art History, University of Denver
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Sense and Scientific Sensibility
Sophia Roosth
Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brown University
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Sensory Rhetoric
Justine Wells
New Mexico State University
Link to syllabus

Material, Atmosphere, and Ambiance graduate seminar
Toshiko Mori
Harvard University
Link to course page

Food

Feasting like the Ancients: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach to Early Food and Drink
Monica Palermo Fernandez
University of Glasgow
Link to Syllabus

Experiencing Food through the Senses
Boston University, Metropolitan College
Rachel Black
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Tasting Culture: Nordic Food, Tradition, and Nutrition
Anders Larsen
University of Copenhagen
Link to Syllabus

Taste, Culture, and Power: The Global History of Food
Benjamin R. Siegel
Boston University
Link to Syllabus

The Language of Food
Dan Jurafsky
Department of Linguistics, Stanford University
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Sound

MUH 7938: Music and the Senses
Sarah Politz
University of Florida, College of the Arts
Link to syllabus

ANTH 303 – The Anthropology of Sound
Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier
University of Victoria
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Media Studies 52: Introduction to Sound Studies:
Ming-Yuen S. Ma
Pitzer College
Link to Syllabus

The Anthropology of Sound
Ian Condry
MIT
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Seminar in Sound Studies
Jonathan Sterne
McGill University
Link to Syllabus

Theorizing Medieval Sound: Medieval Sonic Worlds
Andrew Albin
Fordham University, New York, USA
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Sonic Ethnography
Marina Peterson
The University of Texas at Austin
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sounds of the City
Marina Peterson
The University of  Texas at Austin
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Space and Place in Sound and Music Studies
Andrew J. Eisenberg
New York University
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Media and Methods: Sound
MIT Open Courseware
John Picker
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Workshop in Acoustic and Architecture
Federica Goffi
School of Architecture, Carleton University
Link to syllabus (.doc)

The Anthropology of Sound
Veit Erlmann
Butler School of Music, University of Texas at Austin
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Sound, Vision, Action
Jonathan Sterne
Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Sound Culture
Jonathan Sterne
Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Musicology in the Flesh: A Sensual Inquiry Into Music
Nina Sun Eidsheim
Musicology, University of California Los Angeles
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Pedagogy of Sound
Annie Jeffery
Educational Technology, Boise State University
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Visual Music
Zach Layton
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Link to syllabus (.htm)

Art/Theatre/Performance

Bodies, spaces, performances
Mark Lipton
University of Guelph
Link to syllabus

The Body as a Score
Yun Ingrid Lee & Karina Dukalska
Link to syllabus

The Senses in the Museum and Theater: Presentation Theory and Strategies
Frederick John Lamp
Yale University Art Gallery
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

Advanced Design Studio: Questioning the Spectacular, A Phenomenological Architecture
University at Colorado Denver, College of Architecture and Planning
Maria Cole
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)

The Five Senses of Cinema
T.K. Laine
University of Amsterdam
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

Sixième sens et quatrième dimension : sensorialités, arts et esthétiques – Séminaire
Florence Baillet, Céline Trautmann-Waller, Stefanie Buchenau, Sylvie le Grand-Ticchi
University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, Paris Nanterre University, University of Paris 8
Link to Syllabus (.htm)

The Body in Screen Culture
University of Stirling
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

The Senses in the Museum and Theater: Presentation Theory and Strategies
Frederick John Lamp, Curator of African Art, Yale University Art Gallery
Link to syllabus (.pdf)

Human Geography

Sensing the Sustainable City
Jen Kitson, Rowan University
Link to syllabus

Philosophy

Feminist Philosophy: Making, Doing, Sensing
Ada Jaarsma, Mount Royal University
Link to Syllabus (.pdf)