Global Families, New Identities
A panel on transnational and transracial adoption
Location
Off Campus
Date & Time
November 20, 2013, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Description
The Mixed Race Initiative is an on-campus, student-directed project
working to enhance global awareness about mixed heritage and its various
forms of impact on personal, social, and cultural development. Come
join us on Nov. 20 as we delve deeper into the subject, focusing on the
adoptee experience, which frequently takes place across national and
racial lines. Featuring speakers Catherine Ceniza
Choy, Professor and Department Chair of Ethnic Studies at the
University of California, Berkeley; Spencer Stevens, Secretary and
Maryland Regional Director of Adoption Links DC; and Jennifer Kwon
Dobbs, poet and Assistant Professor of English at St. Olaf College
(Skyping in). Moderated by student organizers Esther Kwon, Thornton
McKinney, Andrew Mayton, Carrie Wolford, and Maggie Yiin.
Our discussion will address adoption in terms of international relations and our developing global society; adoption as progressive multiculturalism vs. new-age imperialism; the adoptee experience, identity crisis, and loss of culture throughout the Korean diaspora; and local community organizing and support networks for adult adoptees.
Transnational, transracial adoptees hold a unique perspective on issues of race and culture, and ongoing work in these areas can provide invaluable insight on important emerging issues in our collective social development. By highlighting our speakers’ academic and artistic contributions, as well as their community work, we create an engaging dialogue with an underrepresented but rapidly growing segment of our population.
Sponsored by The Asian American Literary Review, the University of Maryland Asian American Studies Program, and the University of Maryland Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy.
Our discussion will address adoption in terms of international relations and our developing global society; adoption as progressive multiculturalism vs. new-age imperialism; the adoptee experience, identity crisis, and loss of culture throughout the Korean diaspora; and local community organizing and support networks for adult adoptees.
Transnational, transracial adoptees hold a unique perspective on issues of race and culture, and ongoing work in these areas can provide invaluable insight on important emerging issues in our collective social development. By highlighting our speakers’ academic and artistic contributions, as well as their community work, we create an engaging dialogue with an underrepresented but rapidly growing segment of our population.
Sponsored by The Asian American Literary Review, the University of Maryland Asian American Studies Program, and the University of Maryland Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy.