This paper reflects on the online delivery of a unit titled Sensory Cultures (SASS) that was initially conceived to be largely delivered to an on-campus cohort that included visual arts and music students. Over time it has come to be delivered in an online format only. Students initially express scepticism that a unit about sensory cultures can be delivered online. In response, in 2018 I attempted to create multisensory online experiences that were shared objects for students, generating a sense of community and teacher presence. This was supported by Zoom drop-in rooms that provided real-time interaction and a sense of an embodied teacher.
Part of my research examines the cultural dimensions of perception and telepresence (Kerruish, 2019a), as well as multisensory computing (Kerruish, 2019b), so I am aware that an engaging sensory environment can be digitally created. This does not necessarily require complex technology because people s perception and sense of presence is intimately related not only to sensory experience but to framing commitments and practices (Dreyfus, 2000). Subsequent to my experience of delivering Sensory Cultures online, I am reflecting on the relevance of this to online teaching. The unit is subsequently being rewritten to explicitly address the question of technology and the senses, so that it is clearly situated in our hyperaesthetic culture (Howes, 2004) and explores possibilities for engaging experimentally online. The paper will conclude by strategies I am considering and seeking input from seminar participants as to regarding possible methods and strategies.
Dreyfus, H. (2000). Telepistemology: Descartes' last stand. In K. Goldberg (Ed.), The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet (pp. 48 63). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Howes, D. (2004). Hyperaesthesia, or the sensual logic of late capitalism. In D. Howes (Ed.), Empire of the Senses (pp. 281 303). Oxford: Berg.
Kerruish, E. (2019a). Arranging sensations: smell and taste in augmented and virtual reality. The Senses and Society 14(1), 31 45.
Kerruish, E. (2019b). Lessons on telepresence from the Mars explorer Rovers: Merleau-Ponty and the open perceptual circuit. Culture, Theory and Critique (pp. 1 15).