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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 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-authored or edited 15 books, ranging from The Varieties of Sensory Experience (1991) to Sensorium (2024). He has published numerous journal articles in such fields as medical anthropology, perceptual psychology, sensory museology, material culture, and cross-cultural aesthetics as well as Canadian legal history and constitutional studies, legal pluralism and cross-cultural jurisprudence.
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.