[Commlist] CFP: NOS-HS Exploratory Workshop in Olfactory Cultural Studies

NOS-HS Exploratory Workshops in
*Olfactory Cultural Studies*
Workshop 1, 4–6 September 2023, Ålesund, Norway

/Call for papers and participation/

With support from NordForsk, we are happy to announce a call for papers 
and participation in an exploratory three-day workshop in “olfactory 
cultural studies”. This is the first workshop in a series of three 
independent yet related workshops across different Nordic countries, 
with a general objective to develop and investigate methodologies to 
explore how olfactory phenomena are conceptualised and contribute to 
meaning-making. The remaining two workshops will be organised in Denmark 
and in Finland in 2024, with calls to be released in due course. The 
workshops centre on the significance of odours and the meanings ascribed 
to them, both in different physical environments and in media 
representations, thus complementing multisensory, multimodal cultural 
studies. Emphasis is laid on the role of olfactory phenomena in the 
construction of social and cultural identities. To address the olfactory 
cultural dynamics at stake, the workshops are guided by three main 
research questions:

a)How are different environmental odours made meaningful?
b)How are olfactory phenomena conceptualised and represented in art and 
the media?
c)How do olfactory phenomena participate in the construction of social 
and cultural identities?

/Workshop/

The workshops are designed to combine ethnographic, experimental and 
textual research. The first workshop is structured as follows:

Day 1: ethnographic exercise: “marine summer-time olfactowalk”, to be 
conducted in a select environment and followed by methodological and 
theoretical reflection.

Day 2: experimental exercise at the Atlanterhavsparken Aquarium and 
Marine Science Museum in Ålesund, on the theme “wake up and smell the 
fish”. The exercise seeks to share and develop knowledge by exploring 
aesthetic and analytic sense experiences in an encounter between 
researchers and museum communicators. The exercise draws perspectives 
from a range of disciplines to highlight the potential for the sensory 
perception of smell in the domain of the marine.

Day 3: a seminar session with participants’ presentations on the theme 
of roles of smell (olfaction) in context-based communication and 
learning, followed by methodological and theoretical reflection. As 
opposed to rigid disciplinary thinking, the point of departure here is 
“what sensory perceptions and domains of knowledge can, or must, I rely 
on in this situation?”

/Submissions/

We hereby cordially ask all interested individuals to submit a proposal 
of up to 3,000 words no later than 1 May 2023, via email to 
(olfactory.cultures /at/ gmail.com). The proposals form the basis for the 
seminar session (Day 3) and therefore should address its theme 
(context-based olfactory communication and learning). The proposals 
should be in PDF format, appended with a one-page CV.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the end of May 2023. There 
is a limited amount of seats in the workshop, and all participants are 
required to take part in all exercises and sessions. If selection is 
required due to the amount of proposals, priority will be given to those 
who i) reside in the Nordic region as defined by NordForsk, and ii) 
address the theme of Day 3.

/Travel and accommodation/

The physical location of the workshop is on the island of Runde along 
the western coast of Norway (www.runde.no), with a day-trip to the 
Atlanterhavsparken Aquarium and Marine Science Museum in Ålesund (Day 2; 
https://en.atlanterhavsparken.no).

The organisers will cover accommodation, local transport and 
comestibles. Accommodation in Runde is in two-bedroom flats with shared 
bathrooms. Travel bursaries of up to €500 are available in exchange of 
receipts for a limited number of participants, with priority given to 
early career researchers who do not have access to institutional support.

For further information regarding the other two workshops or any other 
related matter, please do not hesitate to contact the organisers at 
(olfactory.cultures /at/ gmail.com).

/Organisers/

PI Professor Antti-Ville Villén, University of the Arts Helsinki, 
Finland (Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK)
Associate Professor Erik Cyrus Fooladi, Volda University College, Norway
Professor Anu Hopia, University of Turku, Finland
Associate Professor Qian Janice Wang, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

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