Dr Kim Lam

Kim Lam is an Associate Research Fellow for the UNESCO Chair for Cultural Diversity and Social Justice at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. She has a background in Sociology of Religion, Buddhist Studies and Youth Studies. Her work focuses on changing patterns of diversity and their impact on religious belonging, identity and participation. Currently she is working on a range of projects relating to religious youth, migrant youth, social cohesion and youth well-being.

She completed her PhD in Sociology in 2017 at Monash University, titled ‘Disindividualisation: theorising the religious identity negotiations of young Australian Buddhist practitioners’. Her thesis focused on the tensions and ambiguities of negotiating Buddhist teachings of non-self, impermanence and interdependence in a de-traditionalised, neo-liberal and multicultural context.

Her research interests include: youth religiosity, lived/everyday religion, Buddhist studies, religious identity, the racialisation of religion, shifts in religious authority, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, secularism, social cohesion, and the role of religion in social change.

Kim is a Steering Committee Member for the American Academy of Religion Buddhism in the West Unit (2019-2024). She has been employed at several Australian universities in unit coordination, lecturing, tutoring, research assistant and editorial roles.