Professor Ann Dadich
Professor Ann Dadich is a registered psychologist and an internationally recognised expert in health service management, notably knowledge translation. This encompasses scholarship on the processes through which different forms and sources of knowledge coalesce to promote brilliant care – that is, care that exceeds expectation. This is demonstrated by her publishing record; the research grants she has secured; the doctoral theses she is invited to examine; and the awards she has received. Professor Dadich is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Health Review and the Section Editor (equivalent to Editor-in-Chief) of Heliyon. She is also the Deputy Director of the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) Knowledge Translation Platform; she co-convenes the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) Health Management and Organisation (HMO) Special Interest Group; she co-chairs the ANZAM HMO Conference Stream; and she serves on the Executive Committee of ACSPRI (the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Inc.) as Treasurer. Additionally, Professor Dadich supervises doctoral candidates and teaches undergraduate subjects on change management, innovation, creativity, and organisational behaviour.
Session
This interactive workshop introduces body mapping as a creative, participatory, and embodied methodology designed to generate rich insights into lived experience, particularly in relation to sensitive, complex, and often unspeakable or taboo topics. Drawing on the expertise of the Global Body Mapping Consortium, the workshop will combine conceptual grounding with hands-on engagement, enabling participants to both learn about and experience the method in practice.
Body mapping integrates visual, narrative, and sensory approaches to research, inviting participants to express embodied experiences through a facilitated process of drawing, symbolism, and storytelling. As such, it holds particular promise for accessing forms of knowledge that are difficult to articulate through conventional verbal or text-based methods, including experiences of health, trauma, stigma, identity, and marginalisation. In doing so, body mapping can challenge dominant epistemologies, foreground participant voice, and support more inclusive and ethically responsive research practices.
The workshop will begin with an overview of the theoretical and methodological foundations of body mapping, situating it within broader traditions of arts-based, participatory, and qualitative inquiry. This will include a critical discussion of its epistemological assumptions, strengths, and limitations, as well as key ethical considerations when working with sensitive topics and diverse populations. Exemplars from health, social, and community-based research will be used to illustrate how body mapping has been applied across contexts to generate impactful insights and support knowledge translation.
Participants will then engage in a guided body-mapping activity, experiencing firsthand the processes involved in eliciting embodied knowledge. This experiential component is central to the workshop’s design, as it allows participants to reflect on both the methodological possibilities and the practical challenges of the approach. Facilitators will lead structured mindful reflection and discussion, encouraging participants to consider issues such as facilitation techniques, participant safety and support, interpretation of visual data, and the integration of multimodal outputs into analysis and dissemination.
The workshop will also explore emerging developments in body mapping, including digital adaptations, collaborative and co-produced models, and its role in advancing networked and interdisciplinary research. Particular attention will be given to how body mapping can be used to engage participants as co-creators of knowledge, fostering empowerment while also maintaining rigour and reflexivity in the research process. It will also highlight the knowledge translation opportunities of body mapping installations and exhibits.
Designed for researchers, practitioners, and postgraduate students, this workshop is suitable for those new to body mapping as well as those seeking to extend their methodological repertoire. No prior experience with arts-based methods is required. By the end of the session, participants will have a practical understanding of how to design, facilitate, and critically appraise body-mapping projects within their own research or practice contexts.
Overall, the workshop aims to advance methodological innovation in the social sciences by demonstrating how embodied, creative approaches such as body mapping can surface hidden or silenced experiences, open new avenues for inquiry, and contribute to more inclusive and impactful forms of knowledge production.