Professor Asifa Majid will be giving a virtual talk on language and olfaction in different cultures. She has spent time in the rain forest with people who have developed a whole vocabulary for conveying different types of smells, thus challenging the widely held notion that smells are ineffable.
A recent paper examined likes and dislikes of a series of odour molecules from isovaleric acid to linalool. Respondents come from many cultures across the globe from hunter gatherers to urban dwellers. Her lecture should be a fascinating journey.
Asifa Majid has recently moved from York to Oxford taking up a position as Professor of Cognitive Science. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and been awarded various prizes for her work, including a personal grant of € 1.5 million to study olfactory language and cognition across cultures.
It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Some of our members do have close connections to the Royal family and as a British society I am sure that we all have been touched by the news.
We do feel that the Queen would want us to carry on as much as normal in this time of mourning. We have decided to still hold our virtual event on Wednesday 14th September with Professor Asifa Majid.
We will make a recording of the event and this will be made available to all those who register.