No dia 4 de junho, Alice Scavarda (University of Torino) será a oradora convidada do Seminário do Grupo de Investigação LIFE.

The seminar aims to explore the methodological challenges and opportunities of using visual and performative methods when researching health issues with vulnerable subjects such as children and disabled people. I will discuss two visual methods, namely photovoice and comics, and two performative methods, namely walking interviews and applied theatre, to highlight both similarities and differences between these creative research techniques. Drawing on some empirical examples, I will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both visual and performative methods. On the one hand, both visual and performative methods help to visualise bodily aspects and provide alternative means of expression for people who are not verbally fluent. On the other hand, both creative methods imply an intense emotional involvement of the participants and specific ethical issues. I will conclude by arguing that the main reason for using these methods is the possibility of representing the multifaceted sensory and embodied aspects of social experience. The latter are specifically useful when studying the individual and social meaning of health and illness and how they are managed in everyday interactions. 

Alice Scavarda, PhD in Sociology, is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Culture, Politics and Society of the University of Torino. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the European Society for Health and Medical Sociology (ESHMS) and founding member of Graphic Medicine Italia. Her main research interests revolve around Disability, Preventive Health and Qualitative Methods, specifically visual and performative methods. Her latest publications are: “The shame-blame complex of parents with cognitively disabled children in Italy”, Sociology of Health and lllness, (2024) and “Health got graphic! The role of Graphic Medicine in unpacking autism”. Disability & Society (with V. Moretti, 2023).

Pelas 11h, na Sala 3 do ICS-ULisboa e online.