The Sensing Body: The Anthropology of Sensory Experience

The sensation of an ocean breeze; the taste of watermelon; the smell of a familiar person: how to put such visceral experiences into words? While social scientists have focused on language as a way to communicate human experience, this course focuses on the visceral ways in which we interact with the world: through our body and our senses. Drawing on ethnographies, history, art, music, podcasts and films, we will look at how senses--touch, hearing, smell, taste, sight, movement and balance, and beyond--are experienced in different cultural, social and political contexts. We will go on mini-field trips to experience hands-on ways of knowing.