How can we sense and study more-than-human life in urban, ecological, and contested environments? What methods help us attune to hidden, entangled, or feral presences around us?

This course introduces multispecies ethnography through a multisensory and experimental lens. Drawing on anthropology, STS, and environmental humanities — and inspired by artistic and poetic practices — we will explore methods that foreground sound, atmosphere, poetics, and embodied sensing.

Together we will walk, listen, map, write, and document multispecies worlds. We will read and experiment with approaches such as soundwalking, atmospheric attunement, geopoetics, and creative ethnography. The aim is to move beyond detached observation toward participatory and inventive ways of knowing across species lines.

Students will:

conduct short fieldwork exercises,

test out sensory methods in and beyond the classroom, and

co-develop experimental protocols that respond to situated ecological entanglements.

Class Participation (20%)Your active presence matters! Please join discussions, workshops, and exercises with curiosity and care.

Field Trip & Journal (20%)We’ll visit the Wiener Zentralfriedhof together (Session 4). This trip is essential.Afterwards, write a field journal entry (about 2–3 pages / ~800 words). Use your notes, impressions, and creative responses. Feel free to include sketches, photos, or audio recordings.

• Bring your journal to share in the next session.
• Hand in a version (with any media attached) by12 December 2025.

Reading Reflection (20%)Choose one of the course texts and write a short reflection (1–2 pages). This is free writing — it doesn’t need to be polished or edited. Tell me what struck you, what confused you, and how it connects (or not) to your own practice.

• You can handwrite it or submit it digitally.
• Due by12 January 2026.

Final Creative Project & Statement (40%)Your final work is a multisensory or multimodal project (e.g., sound piece, zine, performance, video, speculative ethnography, installation). It should connect clearly to at least one of the themes we’ve explored.

• You’ll present your project in our last session, as part of a collective exhibition.
• Alongside your project, hand in aone-page written statement explaining your process and how it links to the course themes.
• Both the statement and project documentation are due by12 January 2026.

This course invites openness, experimentation, and a willingness to work across disciplines, species, and senses. You don’t need prior experience with ethnographic or artistic practice—just curiosity and a commitment to exploring how knowledge can be co-produced with the more-than-human.

Students are encouraged to document their process and reflect on their methods, challenges, and ethical questions. AI tools can be used thoughtfully and must be critically acknowledged. We will emphasize discussion, collaboration, and peer feedback throughout.

Attendance at the first session is mandatory. A maximum of 6 hours of excused absence is tolerated with prior discussion.