Samantha Dieckmann

I'm a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Melbourne, investigating the uses of music and other creative and performing arts in developing intercommunity conciliation, empathy and emotional community. As a first generation Australian, my regard for newly arrived migrants and developing communities has driven the direction of my research interests. In 2007 I received a Bachelor of Music Education with First Class Honours for my thesis on refugee and asylum seeker community music programs in Sydney, and in my doctoral research I examined the multicultural climate of Blacktown, New South Wales, addressing the role of music in identity formation, community development and intercultural exchange.