The forming of the five senses is a labour of the entire history of the world down to the present.

— Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)

Lose your mind and come to your senses.

— Frederich (Fritz) Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim (1969)

Bard Graduate Center, an institute for advanced research into the study of diverse material worlds, invites paper proposals from NYC-area graduate scholars across disciplines to interrogate the historical, contemporary, and theoretical intersections of sensory experience and material things. The symposium aims to cultivate new lines of inquiry, provoke unexpected connections, and expand object-focused scholarship within BGC and the broader New York City graduate community.

Objects engage with body and mind through sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste, proprioception, and other sensory dimensions. Studying objects only through detached observation—visually or within a single static context—limits our perception of their meanings and histories. Entitled “Sensing Matters: Bodies, Experiences, and Objects,” this symposium explores how material things become animated through sensory engagement and how attention to the sensorium alters our understanding of them. We invite papers that challenge perceptions of objects as static or inert by closely investigating their relationships with human senses and the body. How might this sensory focus change the ways we approach the study of things? What are the political implications of considering the material agency of objects? How does bodily interaction between people and the objects that surround them contextualize lived experiences?

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Culture and Cognition: How does an expanded approach to material culture studies destabilize the long-standing hierarchies that privilege certain senses and the frameworks through which they are constructed?
• Classifications: How does sensory and/or social perception challenge taxonomic terms like “objects,” “belongings,” or “things?”
• Ephemera/Change: How might an object’s material characteristics and sensory affordances generate novel or alternative uses and meanings across cultures?
• Living Matter: How do understandings of objects as living or nonliving beings speak to broader histories of colonialism, resistance, and the sacred?
• Breathing Deeply: How do scented objects mediate our perception of health, safety, and protection?
• Ergonomics and Accessibility: How has the shape of the body and the concept of comfort intersected with the design of objects and their use?
• Reconstruction: What experimental approaches to the study of things can we employ to resurrect sensorial experiences?
• Memory Formation: How can objects, through their sensory qualities, play an active role in collective memory creation?
• Sound and Space: How can the sounds produced by objects, such as the “scroop” of rusting silk, illuminate how they operated, signified, and mediated relationships within their social environments?

This half-day graduate symposium will take place in person on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Bard Graduate Center in New York City. Those interested in submitting their papers for consideration should email [email protected]. Please include the title and a 250-word abstract for a fifteen-minute paper presentation, as well as a short CV that includes your contact information and email address. The deadline for submissions is Monday, February 23, 2026.

Accepted speakers will be notified in early March.

What is Bard Graduate Center?
Bard Graduate Center, located on West 86th Street in New York City, advances the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through its object-centered approach to teaching, research, exhibitions, publications, and events. At BGC, we study the human past and present through their material expressions. We focus on objects and other material forms—from those valued for their aesthetic elements to the ordinary things used in everyday life.

Who can apply?
We encourage NYC Metropolitan Area based graduate students at any level to consider submitting an abstract. BGC prides itself on supporting interdisciplinary research and welcomes submissions from graduate students in diverse fields, including, but not limited to, anthropology, archaeology, art history, fashion studies, feminist studies, media studies, and postcolonial studies.

How do I apply?
Please send a PDF to [email protected] including the title and a 250-word abstract of your fifteen-minute presentation, as well as your CV. The deadline for applications is Monday, February 9, 2026. We will notify accepted speakers in early March.

Are there travel grants available?
No, there are no travel grants available for the 2026 Graduate Student Symposium at BGC. One of the goals of this year’s symposium is to encourage cross-disciplinary research between NYC-based graduate students and scholars.