Description: We advance the constantly evolving landscape of qualitative methodology by integrating Organic Inquiry a transpersonal, spiritually attuned research approach, with poetic ethnography, an arts-based method of data creation and dissemination.
Rooted in transpersonal psychology, Organic Inquiry values intuition, transformation, and spiritual depth, positioning the researcher as both instrument and participant in a sacred co-creative process. Through five iterative phases- Preparation, Inspiration, Incubation, Illumination, and Integration- the method invites the emergence of knowledge through relational attunement, humility, and embodied awareness. This approach resonates with decolonial feminist epistemologies that privilege relationality, intuition, and transformation over objectivity and control.
We demonstrate this methodological synthesis through two poetic ethnographic artefacts created in contexts of global health and climate justice. Each poem enacts affective and ethical listening, translating lived experience into collective witness and transformation. Collectively, Organic Inquiry and poetic ethnography constitute a transpersonal ethic of knowledge creation, one that honours the sacred, emotional, and embodied dimensions of human experience. This fusion reimagines research not as representation but as transformation, where knowledge is revealed through presence and disseminated as living memory.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the Organic Inquiry and Poetic Ethnography as a Method in Medical Education Research
- Explain the five iterative phases- Preparation, Inspiration, Incubation, Illumination, and Integration of the method.
Invited Speaker: Thirusha Naidu, MClin Psych PhD, Department of Innovation in Medical Education, University of Ottawa, Canada, Research Chair in Equity and Social Justice in Global Medical Education
Thirusha trained as a clinical psychologist in apartheid era South Africa and practiced in the public in South Africa until 2024.Her clinical work in South Africa focused on clinical and health psychology for infectious disease, severe mental disorders and the mental health of healthcare workers.Thirusha’s current research focus areas include the global politics and dynamics of knowledge production in Health Professions and Health Sciences Education and Global Health especially with regards to mental health and infectious disease.She explores on issues of social accountability, antiracism, social justice, and gender in global health contexts. Inspired to give voice and make space for women of colour in research and health Thirusha applies decolonising and diffracting methodologies in research e.g. research poetry as a method for deep reflexivity. Her research references critical and theoretical through decolonial and feminist theories.
Thirusha is Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow to the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge, UK and Associate Professor in Psychiatry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She is an associate editor on PLOS Global Public Health, and EDI editor on Teaching and Learning in Medicine.Her writing appears in Academic Medicine, The Lancet, The BMJ and Advances in Health Sciences Education.She was a Karolinska Institutet Prize in Medical Education Fellow in 2019 and is a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow. Thirusha is Canada Research Chair in Equity and Social Justice in Global Medical Education.
This is an AES Virtual Session.
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