Sensing

Sensing can be manifold and radically divergent depending on the practices and entities involved in “making sense.” The classification of the “senses”—touch, smell, sight and so on—are often classified according to human-centric sites of physical sensation. But it is worth exploring the extent to which the various approaches to sensing are products of specific cultural, political and even nonhuman habits.

In this seminar reflection, paleoecologist Allison Stegner and design researcher Yasaman Sheri facilitate a discussion with the participants of their seminar Sensing, which has taken place over the course of the week. They will unpack what happened in the seminar and describe how its case studies were reoriented around the participants’ capacities and modalities for “sensing” the Anthropocene. They discuss how engaging in sensing using alternative and more-than-human practices can inform different approaches to inquiry.