Fostering Connections Through Scent: The Journey of the Smell Studies Group

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon with warm sunshine and a cool breeze when the Smell Studies Group (SSG) held its first in-person meeting at La Recyclerie, a café-canteen located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The meeting was attended by founder Chanelle Dupuis, whose research focuses on the representation of odours in 20th and 21st-century French and Francophone novels, along with six other members. SSG embodies an interdisciplinary network connecting individuals and researchers from various disciplines such as literature, history, chemistry, education, and more.

During the event, members discussed their vision for the group, set future goals, and explored ways to expand the group’s reach to researchers, postgraduate students, and practitioners interested in smell studies. They also deliberated on how to ensure that current members remain actively engaged and how to maintain a space for these individuals.

Present at the event were Manon Raffard, PhD, who researches smell in 19th-century French literature; Radel James Gacumo, who investigates the potential value of olfaction in education; Clara May, who examines olfaction in history and perfumery; Camille Grapa, who studies olfaction in museums; Jasmine Laraki, who focuses on art history and literature; and Emma Paolin, whose interest lies in the chemistry of smell.

Chanelle originally started the SSG back in August 2022 to meet other PhD and Masters students working on smell. She explains that, “I wanted to find examples of research projects where other young scholars were using smell studies methodologies in their own disciplines in creative ways. My other reason for starting the group was to make sure that opportunities were shared equally, no matter what institution one attended or who one had in their network. I wanted a space where CFPs, conference programs, and lectures could be shared with everyone and where everyone could in turn share the resources they had come across.” The website and newsletter of the organisation promotes this goal by routinely sharing updates and opportunities with all of our members. 

When asked about what SSG means to her as a community and working group, Manon responded, “I came across Chanelle's poll regarding the potential creation of an online working group for ECRs in smell studies at a time in my PhD research when I felt particularly isolated and questioned the legitimacy of my research, and consequently, my own legitimacy as a scholar. Starting a career focused on the ‘lower’ senses is perceived as risky at best and plainly irrelevant at worst.”

Many people, including some researchers in academia, may have little to no sympathy for the topic of smell studies and those who study it. For example, very recently, Dr Ally Louks, an SSG member, received significant online vitriol from those who deem her research unimportant and irrelevant to society. Ally’s PhD thesis examines how authors of the past century used smell in literature to indicate social hostilities, such as prejudice and exploitation.

Manon continued, “Most of us have experienced a fair share of sneers from peers and colleagues because of our research topic. Contempt is even worse when one comes from an underprivileged background and has committed the grave sin of receiving a less-than-prestigious education. In this context, the SSG became somewhat of a lifeline for me, providing suggestions, feedback, support, and opportunities for collaborations far beyond what I'd have expected from peers, especially coming from an academic culture that prizes privilege, prestige, and domination above all else.”

“I'll be forever grateful to the members for their kindness, curiosity, and helpfulness,” Manon added. “For me, especially as decent jobs become rarer and whole departments are defunded overnight, the SSG stands as a haven of academic and human decency, and I can only hope we keep going in earnest for as long as we can!”

The group started with 26 members who enthusiastically shared their excitement for a space in which to talk about smell and shared resources. Many of these original 26 members are still part of the group today and continue to attend meetings. It is thanks to these first few meetings that members came up with the idea to have meeting times dedicated to reading recent publications, to sharing research updates, and to inviting established scholars in the field to come speak with us.

Now that the group has grown to almost 200 members and continues to expand, it underscores how a shared passion for a specific topic, smell in this case, combined with strong leadership and volunteerism, can create a robust support system for people in academia. It also demonstrates, as Radel put it, how creating a “safe space” can thrive and ensure a welcoming fragrance is available for all.