Emotions and the New History of Experience

Transdisciplinary Implications of a Biocultural Consensus

Abstract

Across the disciplines, from anthropology, sociology, and history to primatology, social psychology, transcultural psychiatry, social neuroscience, and neurophilosophy, there is a growing consensus among researchers of emotions and senses that biology and culture are dynamically related and entangled in the production of meaningful human experience. There is broad agreement about the importance of situated conceptual development, social structure, and material culture and there are emerging signs of collaborative research being undertaken to capitalize on this consensus. However, a number of obstacles remain. This article envisions a role for historical research as a stakeholder and wayfinder in a transdisciplinary space that transcends emotion research.