Capitalism and the Senses

I'm an associate professor at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. I specialize in cultural and business history; studies in capitalism; the long-term development of technology; and the history of the senses. I received a BA and MA in American Studies from the University of Tokyo, and a PhD in History from the Hagley Program in the History of Capitalism, Technology, and Culture at the University of Delaware.​ After earning my PhD in 2016, I served as a Newcomen Postdoctoral Fellow in Business History at Harvard Business School (2016–2017) and taught at the Graduate School of Economics at Kyoto University (2017–2021). My first book, Visualizing Taste: How Business Changed the Look of What You Eat (Harvard University Press, 2019) won the 2020 Hagley Prize in Business History (Business History Conference) and the 2020 Shimizu Hiroshi Book Award (Japanese Association for American Studies).

Assoc. Prof. Ai Hisano

1	Subject	Capitalism and the Senses
2	Field	History
3	Key words	Senses; Capitalism; Business; Technology
4	Global Unit	1
5	Lecturer	Ai Hisano
6	Period	July 3 - 14, 2023
7	Time	1:00-2:30pm (Japan Standard Time)
8	Lecture style	In-person (on Hongo Campus)
9	Evaluation Criteria	Excellent (S) 90 –100％; Very good (A) 80–89％; Good (B) 70–79%; Pass (C) 60–69%; Fail (D) 0–59％
10	Evaluation methods	Attendance and active participation 40% Presentation 20% Final project 40%
11	Prerequisites	No prior knowledge about the subject is required. However, because this is a discussion-based course, students must be willing to engage in class discussion. Students are also expected to have completed all reading assignments and to have thought about them before class.
12	Contents	Purpose This course explores how economic and technological changes altered people’s sensory experience with particular focus on the rise of consumer capitalism. In so doing, it aims to help students (1) foster the critical analysis and deeper understanding of capitalist development; (2) critically discuss methodological and analytical frameworks employed by scholars in the field of sensory studies; and (3) analyze sensory experience not only as personal and biological phenomenon but also as a social construction. Description Beginning in the late nineteenth century, sensory appeals became a crucial part of business strategies in the modern consumer-oriented economy. This was the radical departure from the prior world under mercantilism and agrarian economy, and the beginning of the new material world, which is still with us today. How have scholars, cultural critics, and business leaders discussed and understood businesses’ attention to the senses in capitalist economy? How has seemingly personal, intimate sensory experience become an important element of mass marketing? How did the rise of new consumer capitalism affect how people lived as well as how they perceived their surrounding environments? In asking these questions, the course encourages students to explore such themes as the creation of sensory experience in modern capitalist society from cross-cultural perspectives, the impact of technological development on sensory perception, the construction of knowledge about the senses, and the role of the senses in business strategies in the global market. By focusing on the role of the senses in the evolution of capitalism, this course addresses the following issues: (1) the intellectual history of capitalism and the senses; (2) the use of sensory appeal in business strategies and its implications; and (3) social implications of technological and economic changes.   The course consists primarily of lectures and discussions based on reading assignments. Students will also work as a group for their final projects. Schedule 1. Introduction: Senses, Capitalism, and History Reading: Smith, “Producing Sense, Consuming Sense, Making Sense”; and Howes, “The Expanding Field of Sensory Studies” 2. Creating Sensory Experience Reading: Lahne, “Standard Sensations” 3. Marketing the Senses Reading: Howes, “How Capitalism Came to Its Senses” 4. Creating Sensory Experience: Bartenders and Drinking Culture in Japan Guest speaker: Dr. Nao Sato (Kyoto University) 5. Group work 6. Soundscape and Sensory Modernity (Reading will be distributed in class)           7. Sensory Relationships and Imperialism Reading: Rotter, “Empire of the Senses” 8. Group work 9. Group presentation 10. Final discussion   *For the readings, please see “Required readings.” Assignments (1) 20-minute group presentation on a final project (2) Final group project
13	Required readings	Will be provided through the UTeLF in advance.
14	Reference readings	Will be provided during the course.
15	Notes on Taking the Course	-

UTokyo Global Unit Courses
International Exchange Group, Education and Student Support Department,
The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8652 JAPAN

Please send all inquiries regarding the courses to the following email address:

utokyo-guc.adm(at)gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp *Please change (at) to @