international adoption

Call for Papers
Fourth International Korean Adoption Studies Research Symposium
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Planned location: IKAA Gathering 2016, Seoul, Korea.
Symposium Sponsor: IKAA (International Korean Adoptee Associations).

Submissions Due by: December 1, 2015
Submit to: ISKAS2016@gmail.com

Questions? Please contact the Symposium organizers Sara Docan-Morgan, Tobias Hübinette, Kimberly McKee, and Elizabeth Raleigh at ISKAS2016@gmail.com.

The International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA) will convene the Fourth International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies as part of the IKAA Gathering 2016. The field of Korean adoption studies is specifically concerned with international adoption from Korea including the experiences of overseas adopted Koreans, birth families, adoptive families, and the families of adoptees. We recognize and celebrate the interdisciplinary nature of Korean adoption studies. These scholars work at the intersections of Asian and Korean studies, postcolonial and cultural studies, and social and behavioral sciences. Their research is also engaged with issues of race and ethnicity, migration and diaspora, gender and family, and globalization and transnationalism.

The day-long symposium will bring together scholars from around the world who are conducting research in the field of Korean adoption studies. We also welcome submissions from scholars creating linkages between transnational adoptions from Korea and other sending countries such as China, Ethiopia, and Ukraine. By bringing together a diverse group of scholars from multiple fields, we hope to build on the momentum of the previous Research Symposiums to further academic inquiry and strengthen the network of scholars tackling questions surrounding international adoption.

We encourage submissions from everyone, but will prioritize academic papers from those who have completed or are currently enrolled in a terminal master’s or Ph.D. program. All studies involving human subjects must abide by IKAA’s Rules and Guidelines for Conducting Scholarly Research. We seek presentations/papers on a range of topics that represent as many of the current research approaches on Korean adoption as possible. Suggested topics include (but are not limited to):
– Research related to the theme of the IKAA Gathering 2016: Connecting Communities & Looking Towards the Future
– Links in adoption policy, history, ideology and/or adoption cultures between South Korea and other sending nations
– Ethics and positionality in Korean adoption research, imagining and researching adoption, including methodologies, disciplines and the politics of criticism
– The lifelong processes of Korean adoptee identity: Genealogies, long-term mental health issues in Korean adoptee populations, intimacy, sexuality, and family formation
– Korean adoption aesthetics, representation and affectivity
– Korean adoptee experiences in the context of the larger Korean diaspora

Submission Deadline and Instructions
Submissions are due December 1, 2015. No late proposals will be accepted. We will accept proposals via email only. A cover page submitted without attached proposal or CV is NOT considered complete. The cover page can be found online. We will not accept or consider submissions that are lacking information. Selection notifications will be made by e-mail by the end of January.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Topic: A Round Table Discussion Proposal– Communication Studies on International Adoption: Voices, Issues, and Impact
National Communication Association convention
November 17-20, 2011, New Orleans

Contact information: Joyce Chen, University of Northern Iowa, chen@uni.edu; Changfu Chang, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, changfu.chang@millersville.edu

International and interracial adoptions have been part of American family life since the 1980s. The adjustment of adopted children and their adoptive families became an important issue studied by academia, especially in the fields of clinical psychology and social work. The research topics range from the identity formation of adopted children, the search for, and reunion with, birth parents of adult adoptees, adoption parenting, to birth mother adjustments. These studies seem to focus on “the vulnerabilities and deficiencies of adoptees” (Zamostny, O‟Brien, Baden, & Wiley, 2003, p.667). As a matter of fact, the identity formation of adopted children and the adjustments of adoptive families reside in the process of cross-cultural and intercultural communication. However, there was very few communication study found on the international/interracial adoption. This proposal aims to let those voices be heard, to initiate the discussions on important issues, and to exchange research agenda. We have a series of documentary DVDs that would provide basic information for the discussion.

If you are interested in this proposal and are willing to participate in the round table discussion, please send us your topic and contact information. The topic is open to any international adoption experiences, opinions/perspectives, or research intention. Contact information:

Joyce Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Communication Studies
University of Northern Iowa
chen@uni.edu

Changfu Chang, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Communication and Theatre
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Millersville, PA 17551
changfu.chang@millersville.edu