2017 Hixon Forum
Science and the Senses: Bodies and Practice
Feb. 10–11, 2017
Sensory knowledge plays a significant role in expert research practices. How is it, then, that information gained through the senses remains suspect, secondary to instrumental observation? At the 2017 Hixon forum we discussed, and practiced, how to account for the role of not only sight and sound, but also touch, taste and smell, in the practice of science.
| Time | Event | Panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9–10:30 a.m. | Session 1: Bodies | Emily Yates-Doerr, University of Amsterdam “Voices of Cortisol: Praxiographing a Concept” Rebeca Ibáñez Martin, University of Amsterdam “Showing, Seeing, Smelling: Exhibiting Waste Futures” Jih-Fei Cheng, Scripps College “Race, Texture, and Magnification in Twentieth-Century Virology” | Drinkward Recital Hall |
| 10:30–11 a.m. | Coffee Break | ||
| 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Session 2: Sensing | Morana Alač, University of California, San Diego “The Mute Sense and Everyday Work in Olfactory Psychophysics” Jacob Lahne, Drexel University “Making Sense: Sensory Evaluation as a ‘Science from Below’” Filippo Bertoni, Aarhaus University “Planetary Senses: Attending to the Sociotechnical Making of Earth” | Drinkward Recital Hall |
| 12:30–2:30 p.m. | Lunch Break | ||
| 2:30–4:30 p.m. | Perceiving | Dwight Whitaker, Pomona College “Orange is the New Brown: Using an LCD Display to Experiment With Color Perception” Christy Spackman, Harvey Mudd College “Let’s Measure It: Hacking Gas Chromatography to ‘Improve’ Taste” Sergio Sismondo, Queen’s University “‘And Damn Near Died’: From Sensorial to Statistical Styles of Medical Inquiry” Laura Perini, Pomona College “Visual Evidence Beyond the Boundaries of Expert Vision” | Drinkward Recital Hall |
| 5–6 p.m. | Public Workshop 1 | Ali Kenner, Drexel University “Breathtaking Through Time” | The Hive; Limited Space, Registration Required |
| Time | Event | Panel | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9–11 a.m. | Contamination | Nicholas Shapiro, Chemical Heritage Foundation “Decontamination Beyond the Chemical Register” Heather Paxson, MIT “Sensing Food Risk at the Border” Adam Johnson, Harvey Mudd College “Contamination: The Effect of the 1%” Vivien Hamilton, Harvey Mudd College “Insensible Danger: Radiation Safety in American Hospitals” | Drinkward Recital Hall |
| 11–11:30 a.m. | Coffee Break | ||
| 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m | Missing | Cristobal Bonelli, Unesco IHE Water Institute for Education “Making Sense of Non-Sense: Bodies, Absences and Socio-Material Memory in Southern Chile” Joe Dumit, University of California, Davis “Fascia: goopy, viscous, missing” Madeline Schwartzman, Barnard College / Parsons: the New School for Design “See Yourself Sensing” Sharon Traweek, University of California, Los Angeles Discussant | Drinkward Recital Hall |
| 1–3 p.m. | Lunch Break | ||
| 3–4:30 p.m. | Public Workshop: “Walking” | Rachel Mayeri, Harvey Mudd College; Jane Tsong;Christopher Nyerges. | The Hive; Limited Space, Registration Required |
| 4:30–5:30 p.m. | Public Workshop: “Wastescapes” | Students of STS 179F | The Hive; Limited Space, Registration Required |
| 4:30–5:30 p.m. | Public Workshop: “Smellscapes” | The Hive; Limited Space, Registration Required |