Dr. Blanchard’s M.A. dissertation examined the rich sensory textures and flavours of Hindu pujas (devotional rituals), both in India and in a small Hindu temple in Ottawa. She argued that the embodied nature of Hindu devotion called for a “sacred sensorium,” a form of perception that was particularly rich and symbolic within the ritual puja.

It is during her M.A. research that she came upon the concept of “rasa”–which means “flavour” and “essence,” but also “aesthetic pleasure.” Focusing on this notion, her Ph.D. project explored the sensory and emotional nature of rasa within Bharatanatyam and Odissi, two classical Indian dance-drama forms (among many) that have been through a cultural renewal in the past century. Her dissertation argued that rasa represents an aesthetic experience that can be learned by performers and spectators—a process coined as “rasik literacy.” Spectators develop their rasik literacy through exposure to the aesthetics of Indian performing arts via visual, imaginative, aural and aesthetic savouring. In addition to these, dancers acquire theirs through internal perception such as kinaesthesia, proprioception, equilibroception, (embodied) rhythm and flow, thus forming body memories that are eventually associated with the emotional hues of rasa. She further argued that rasa is a complex emotional, sensorial and aesthetic concept that greatly enriches the field of sensory anthropology and demonstrates the inadequacy of the mind-body opposition in the study of cultures.

Research Interests: Sensory anthropology, Cultural anthropology, Sensory studies, Indian aesthetics, Indian performing arts, Emotions and sensations, Extrasensory perception, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, New religions and alternative spiritualities and Diaspora in Canada.