Sensational Thinking: moving beyond the 5 senses

Did you know we have more than 5 senses? How can we engage other prominent sensory systems in library, museum and archive spaces?

Join us for this webinar for an introduction to Sensational Thinking. This is a framework developed by The Sensational Museum research project that challenges current reliance on sight. It explores how providing sensory choice improves the visitor and worker experience.

Professor Hannah Thompson, from Royal Holloway University of London, will introduce tools developed for this project. These tools were co-created with disabled and non-disabled museum professionals, academics and advocates, to support organisations in unlocking the multisensory potential of their collections.

Beyond the ‘5 classical senses’ of touch, taste, smell, vision and sound, the Sensational Thinking framework also includes:

• Balance
• Temperature
• Pain
• Interoception (our sense of inner self)
• Proprioception (how we understand ourselves in the world around us)

Hannah will outline the open-access Sensational Thinking approach, including guidance and exercises to support multisensory interactions for each of the 10 senses. Importantly, this does not rely on expensive kit or complicated technical interventions but on trust and inclusion. There will be a chance for attendees to experience a hands-on multisensory thinking task from the toolkit.

This webinar is for anyone interested in exploring how moving away from the ‘look and learn’ model can allow everyone, regardless of sensory preferences, to experience heritage on their own terms and with a deeper connection. All welcome, including library cataloguers, archivists, local studies librarians, educators, storytellers, outreach and exhibitions teams.

About the speaker

Hannah Thompson is Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. She describes herself as a ‘partially blind academic and activist’. Her most recent research focuses on the benefits of blindness, “blindness gain”, in literature, culture and heritage. And exploring audio description as a kind of creative, intermodal translation with a focus GLAM settings and performance venues. In April 2023 she became Principal Investigator on a major AHRC research project, The Sensational Museum, which aims to ‘use what we know about disability to change how museums work for everyone.’