David Howes

David Howes is a Canadian anthropologist and legal scholar. He is a Full Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Co-Director of the Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University, and (since 2012) an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law at McGill University.

Howes is best known as a pioneer of the anthropology of the senses and theorist of the interdisciplinary field of sensory studies. He has authored, co-athored or edited 14 books, ranging from The Varieties of Sensory Experience (1991) to Sensorial Investigations (2023). He has published numerous journal articles in such fields as medical anthropology, psychology of perception, sensory museology, material culture, and cross-cultural aesthetics as well as Canadian and US constitutional law, legal pluralism and cross-cultural jurisprudence.

Howes co-founded the journal The Senses and Society (with Michael Bull, Paul Gilroy and Doug Kahn) in 2006, and has served as the general editor of the Sensory Formations book series (2003–2009) and the new Sensory Studies book series from Routledge (2015– ).

Howes has conducted field research on the social and cultural life of the senses in Papua New Guinea, Northwestern Argentina, and the Southwestern United States. He recently wrapped up a project on “Law and the Regulation of the Senses” and is currently directing a project called “Explorations in Sensory Design.”

Howes is a past holder of the Chaire Jacques Leclercq at the Université Catholique Louvain (2018) and was awarded the title of Distinguished Research Professor by Concordia University in 2021.

Intellectual Biography

Video Biography

Research Interests

Sensory Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Legal Anthropology, Constitutional Studies, Popular Culture, Culture and Consumption, Aesthetics and Atmospheres, Art and Design.

INSE-6310

Systems Engineering Maintenance Management
(Winter-2019)

This course teaches basic concepts, models, methods and tools in maintenance management. The related reliability concepts, deterministic replacement, preventive maintenance and condition based maintenance will be discussed. Case studies will be performed. Software tools will be introduced.