Emerging Cultural Leaders 2015

Minh Nguyen

Minh Nguyen is currently completing her Masters of Applied Psychology. Her dissertation research explored constructions of ethnic identity amongst second generation Christian-affiliated Vietnamese in Melbourne. She found that through the negotiations between social relationships, and within one’s location in society, participants created a ‘different kind of Australian’ identity that accessed resources from the surrounding environment, their parent’s culture and experiences of racism and exclusion. This study provided an account of Vietnamese Christian identity construction, a particular historical, cultural, and social location within the complex world.

Minh is exploring ways to engage both the creative arts and community input in developing artistic projects based on her research findings. Due to the fluid, evolving, and sometimes conflicted nature of identity construction, Minh plans ongoing research and art projects in this field.