400020 SE Sensory methods (2025W)

Lecturer: Anna Harris

Sensory knowledge has long been studied in the social sciences, and more recently, building primarily upon the advances made by visual anthropologists, sensory methodologies have gained more traction and articulation. This course aims to introduce doctoral students to established and more experimental sensory methods that can be potentially incorporated into social science projects, regardless of specific discipline or topic. After a more general introduction which explores and contextualises sensory methods more generally in the social science literature, we will identify and work with three components in particular: 1) smaller scale interventions like sensory probes, ideal for breaking research habits, working in teams and opening up hard-to-access aspects of a study; 2) sensory methods that can be incorporated more systematically in projects, such as object interviews, sensory mapping, working with textiles and making workshops; 3) sensory approaches to sharing research findings, from multimodal storytelling, book-making and pop-up exhibitions. The course will be filled with empirical examples from the teacher’s own projects and those in her sensory networks and will entail hands-on working with materials and sensory exercises tailored to the students’ own topics. By the end of the course students should have a better sense of how and when sensory methods might forward their research, and to gain confidence in using such approaches. The course is suitable for doctoral students at any stage of their research process. The language of instruction will be English.

The course takes place from 1 to 5 December 2025.