Making Sense of Sensory Studies, Aarhus University, April 27–28, 2023

Recent archaeological, historical, and ethnographical research has witnessed a phenomenon that can be called a sensory turn or even a sensual revolution with a growing number of publications aimed at sketching the sensory landscapes of past societies. In these recent studies, several methods to trace the ephemeral and already vanished sensory encounters have been developed from the more traditional approaches to more experimental ones.

The workshop Making sense of sensory studies aims to bring together the trailblazers of sensory studies in social sciences, archaeology, and history, for sharing the best methodological developments in recent sensory scholarship. 

We invite papers that explore the various ways to investigate the sensory landscapes of the past (of any time period). Particularly welcome are proposals from scholars, who have developed further the traditional methods used in sensory studies or have come up with new approaches for investigating the senses of the past. The conference is divided into four sessions of oral presentations. In addition, there will be a lightning round, concentrating on case studies of particularly interesting methods developed in recent years, followed by a panel discussion.

The conference is organized by Laura Nissin, Assistant Professor, AIAS-COFUND Fellow and Qian Janice Wang, Tenure Track Assistant Professor and AIAS Associate Fellow, and the event is hosted by the Aarhus Institute for Advanced Studies, AIAS.