Smell and Tell: Sacred Scents

Join trained fragrance evaluator Michelle Krell Kydd and UM professors Yasmin Moll and Rebecca Wollenberg in an exploration of religiously significant scents from Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the three Abrahamic traditions. This is an interactive olfactory experience: You will learn about the history of eight sacred scents as you interact with each of them using your sense of smell. Together we will explore how these scents speak to our own experiences, identities and memories.

Michelle Krell Kydd is a trained “nose” in flavor and fragrance evaluation. She creates Smell & Tell and Taste & Tell programming for the Ann Arbor District Library, the University of Michigan and clients in the private sector. Michelle received a finalist award from President Mark S. Schlissel at the 2016 Staff Innovation Awards, in recognition of unique presentations incorporating the sense of smell. Kydd, a native New Yorker, received flavor and fragrance evaluation training at Givaudan and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). She’s the editor of Glass Petal Smoke, an award-winning blog that explores the world of flavors and fragrances.

This event is open to all interested UM students. Attendees are invited to continue the conversation over a catered lunch afterwards. Please RSVP by October 31 by emailing Dr. Wollenberg at [email protected].