Sensing Cows in Digitised Farms

Exploring human-animal relationships through sensory research methods.

Exploring human-animal relationships through sensory research methods.

, ,

Key Researcher

Dr Eva Haifa Giraud

Co-Investigator

Eva Haifa Giraud is a senior lecturer in Digital Media & Society. She works across the fields of Science and Technology Studies (STS), media, and critical theory. She has a particular theoretical interest in whether the vocabulary of entanglement that has become central to understanding human-animal relations is sufficient for engaging with questions of inequality and exclusion. She has written about these themes in books such as What Comes After Entanglement (Duke, 2019), Veganism (Bloomsbury, 2021), and in the edited collection Digital Ecologies (Manchester, 2024). She is keen to explore these ideas further in Multispecies Mutualisms, to examine how novel developments in hypoallergenic dog breeding might complicate understandings of human-dog mutualism.

For more information about their research, please visit Eva’s full academic profile or Bluesky account.
View All Outputs

On 3rd December, the Multispecies Mutualisms project hosted a talk by Dr Camille Bellet, whose methodological approach closely aligns with that which we plan to adopt as part of the project. She presented her published research on the use of digital technologies in agriculture, and also outlined her proposed future research agenda, focussing on more-than-human research and sensory studies. Her abstract for the talk is below:

Drawing on findings from my current Wellcome Trust project, this presentation explores how sensing practices with cows in digitised farms – visual, tactile, auditory, and beyond – shape human-cow relations, and how attention to these practices can illuminate forms of marginalisation and systemic inequalities that extend far beyond human-cow relations. Combining historical, ethnographic, and artistic approaches, my research pursues two main aims: first, to examine how sensing practices with cows have unfolded along lines of power – amplifying some senses, silencing others, and entangling both humans and cows into wider regimes of inequality; and second, to develop and experiment with sensory-analytical frameworks that might foster multispecies justice and well-being.

Dr Camille Bellet and Dr Eva Giraud stand at the front of a classroom: Eva gestures while introducing Camille, who stands beside her smiling. A computer monitor on the desk displays a photograph of a cow
Dr Eva Giraud introduces Dr Camille Bellet beside a screen displaying a photograph by Liz Hingley, 2023. Photo by Lucy Dunning.

Drawing on sensory studies, along with feminist, decolonial, and more-than-human theories, I will focus on three sensory processes that have emerged from my research and that are being reshaped by digitalisation – rhythms, scales, and materialities – examining how they transform human and more-than-human relations. These processes serve both as analytical tools and as participatory entry points for our collective discussion. I will also introduce Portable Cow, an experimental research-creation artefact co-designed with artist and anthropologist Liz Hingley and designer and filmmaker Edwin Mingard to trouble, redistribute, and reimagine the sensory relations at play in contemporary cattle farming. Through an exploration with and through the senses, I aim to advance an innovative methodological approach – one that opens new possibilities for studying and reconfiguring multispecies relations within and beyond the farm. 

Dr Camille Bellet’s talk was followed by a PGR- and ECR- focused masterclass, where Camille discussed approaches for and advice in developing an early-career research proposal post-PhD and/or after switching disciplines, with a particular focus on the value of collegiate network-building.

Viewed from the perspective of the audience, Dr Camille Bellet speaks to the group. The image shows a presentation slide displaying scattered puzzle pieces, presented as part of the exhibition Portable Cow at Gallery 181, School of Design, Iowa State University, curated by Camille and Liz in 2025, a logo for Portable Cow and an image still from ‘Portable Cow Unboxing’, which shows a pair of hands moving close up images of cows around on a table.
Dr Camille Bellet presents to the audience. The screen shows scattered puzzle pieces (photograph by Liz Hingley, 2025), a logo (logo by Liz Hingley and Edwin Mingard) and an image still from ‘Portable Cow Unboxing’ (film by Liz Hingley and Edwin Mingard, 2023).
A small classroom setting where Dr Camille Bellet and Dr Eva Giraud stand at the front of the room addressing a group of adults seated at tables. The audience listens attentively, some with laptops and notebooks, in a modern room with light blue walls, overhead lighting, and acoustic panels.
Dr Camille Bellet and Dr Eva Giraud speak to the audience. Cow eye photograph, 2023 by Liz Hingley. Photo by Lucy Dunning.

Related Posts

Get Project Updates