About

Melanie McBride is a doctoral candidate in Communication and Culture at York University (Toronto) investigating inter-sensory learning and communications practices involving smell and taste.

Research overview

From her preliminary field work in Canada and France, Melanie’s research investigates how olfactory learning is acquired, communicated and practiced in socioculturally and sensory-rich environments. While olfactory knowledge is often regarded as the exclusive purview of specialist domains such as perfumery or wine education, we understand very little about the role or influence of sociocultural or environmental ecologies in shaping and maintaining these literacies as a daily practice. Through her sensory ethnographic field work and case-studies of cultural, institutional and commercial contexts of olfactory learning and communication, Melanie’s research examines how these situated literacies and practices of olfactory knowledge can be relocalized through inclusive, creative, pedagogical interventions. Melanie’s practice-focused doctoral research aims to provide an ecologically and socioculturally situated foundation for meaningful inter-sensory learning inquiry that moves beyond the visual biases of communication, education and media interaction design.

Melanie has created a public record of some of her auto-ethnographic field work here  with sound files here. Or you can follow her adventures in DIY olfactory making at the @smelllab on Twitter.

Full Bio

Melanie has worked as a research assistant with Ryerson University’s Experiential Design and Gaming Environments Lab (EDGE Lab) and is currently a research assistant with Ryerson’s Responsive Ecologies lab (RE/Lab) contributing to the conceptualization and development inclu