On Human-Microbe Relations

Don't miss our events with Maya Hey, an expert on human–microbe relations in food settings with degrees in dietetics, food studies, and communications. In the open lecture and the workshop (waiting list!) she will focus on fermentation as a hands-on practice for knowing microbes and working with them.

Open Lecture / March 5th, 4:15-5:30 pm

»Fermentation as an Ongoing Praxis: Working with Microbes From Material Matters to Improvisational Ethics«

This talk is based on ethnographic accounts of a natural sake brewery in Japan. Uniquely, this brewery does not add vials of yeast and bacteria like an ingredient; so the work of brewing entails perpetually creating conditions for ambient microbes to gather—and only certain microbes, at certain stages, in certain sequences. I use the brewing process, its environments, tools, rituals, seasonality, and know-how to show how fermentation is more than just a linear technique that produces foodstuffs; rather, it is an ongoing, more-than-human entanglement that requires repeated attention to material matters. By examining the repeated care practices of the brewers, I call attention to the improvisational ethics where fermenters continually set up environments—or provisos—in which microbes can work. I develop this concept of improvisational ethics to offer nuanced ways of thinking about multispecies collaboration, expanding the discussion beyond macro-organisms (like dogs, sheep, or horses) while also reckoning with other asymmetries (like eastern/western knowledges). The talk arrives at ethico-political conclusions that places the onus on the human (fermenter), theoretically and practically, to keep engaging in the ongoing microbial processes that comprise our more-than-human world.

Workshop / March 6th, 10am - 4:30 pm

»Sensoriography«

In this workshop, participants will focus on the methods, sticky spots, and documentation practices for multispecies/multisensory ethnographies. The first part of the workshop will evaluate existing histories, practices, and challenges for conducting research with other more-than-human entities, with particular focus on the experiential, the subjective, and the ethico-political matterings. Part 2 is more experimental, with sensory and immersive activities to test out new modes of data processing and storage. The workshop will conclude with a brief discussion and tactics for how to navigate future ethnographic challenges. By the end of the workshop, participants will have engaged with a range of methods and have a series of written reflections as tangible takeaways. Participants will be asked to bring an artifact that represents their more-than-human research.

The event is already fully booked - there is a waiting list!

Organization

Emma Sicher

Contact

emma.sicher@hu-berlin.de

Bio Maya Hey

Maya Hey is an expert on human–microbe relations in food settings, with degrees in dietetics, food studies, and communications. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the Centre for the Social Study of Microbes at the University of Helsinki. There, she focuses on fermentation as a hands-on practice for knowing microbes and working with them. Her current research has three aspects: (1) developing embodied and sensory methods to detect microbes; (2) studying the intersection of ferments and health/sustainability rhetoric; and (3) theorising the gut as a mediator for human–microbe relationships. Her work experience spans preschools, chemistry labs, commercial kitchens, organic farms, food banks, and retail markets, where she has gathered over 15 years of experience facilitating discussions about contemporary food and health issues.

Find out more about Maya on her website