[CFP] 5th Intl. Research Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies

More information here: https://ikaa.org/research-symposium/

The Fifth International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies Call for Papers

Symposium Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Submissions Due by: December 1, 2018

Submit online: https://tinyurl.com/iskas2019

Questions? Please contact the Symposium organizers Sara Docan-Morgan, Boon Young Han, Kimberly McKee, Anders Riel Müller, Eunha Na, and Elizabeth Raleigh at ISKAS2019@gmail.com.

The International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA) will convene the Fifth International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies as part of the IKAA Gathering 2019. 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, Colombia, 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 Policies and Guidelines for Conducting Scholarly Research, which can be downloaded by clicking HERE. We are particularly interested in research aligned with the IKAA Gathering theme, “Spanning Generations: Communities, Families & Leadership.” 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):

  • Adoptees’ political activism and political identities including the ways adoptee identity shapes political identifications and activities, and vice versa (e.g. activism of adoptees in Europe, North America, Australasia, and Korea; adoptees’ involvement with groups such as unwed mothers’ groups).
  • Adoption and immigration policies in sending and receiving countries (e.g. deportation; undocumented adoptees; adoption migration in times of anti-immigration politics, voluntary return migration).
  • Negotiating kinship and affective relationships (e.g. genetic testing, family formation, birth search and reunion, community building).
  • Adoptee intersectional identities (e.g. disability, sexuality, gender, race, class).
  • Changing representations of adoption in contemporary literature, drama, and performance, and popular culture.
  • Adoption and the biopolitics of post-war and post-colonial state formation in South Korea (e.g. social welfare policies, militarism, status of unwed mothers).
  • Ethics and positionality in Korean adoption research, imagining and researching adoption, including methodologies, disciplines and the politics of criticism.

Submission Deadline and Instructions 
Submissions are due December 1, 2018 . No late proposals will be accepted. We will accept proposals via online submission site only (https://tinyurl.com/iskas2019). Please be prepared to submit a 750-1,000 word abstract and 150-300 word bio. We will not accept or consider submissions that are lacking information. Selection notifications will be made by e-mail by February.