Hosted by the University of Bristol Senses and Sensations Research Group 

Smell studies is a fast expanding, but quite loosely organized field of research and development, primarily focused on the cultural role of smell. How can we combine different kinds of (academic, professional, commercial) expertise to better study and acknowledge the role smell and olfaction play in (historical) cultures? In this lecture, Inger Leemans will discuss how the Odeuropa project has combined academic and professional knowledge to develop new methodologies for scent research and education. She will do this by presenting a case study she is currently working on: moldy, musty, and stuffy smells.

Inger Leemans is a professor of Cultural History at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the principal investigator of the NL-Lab at the KNAW Humanities Cluster. Her research branches out from early modern cultural history (1500-1850) towards the history of emotion and the senses, the history of knowledge, cultural economy, and digital humanities. As Project Lead of the EU Horizon 2020 project ODEUROPA: Negotiating Olfactory and Sensory Experiences in Cultural Heritage Practice and Research Leemans has helped to develop a trans-disciplinary project on olfactory heritage and sensory mining.

Register for your free place