Over the years, IKAA has hosted multidisciplinary Research Symposiums to strengthen the academic network in the field of Korean adoption and related studies. Korea adoption studies is specifically concerned with international adoption from Korea, as well as with overseas adopted Koreans, and has emerged as an area of study both in Korea, the country of origin, and in the Western receiving countries to which Korean children have been sent for adoption. The symposiums have brought together scholars from around the world, including those that work at the multidisciplinary intersections of Asian and Korean studies, postcolonial and cultural studies, and social and behavioral sciences. Their work has also engaged with issues of race and ethnicity, migration and diaspora, gender and family, and globalization and transnationalism. By continuing to bring 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.
Research Symposiums
Sixth International Korean Adoption Studies (IKAS) Symposium
The Sixth International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies will be held at the 2023 IKAA Korea Gathering on July 12th, 2023. We recognize and celebrate the interdisciplinary nature of Korean adoption studies with scholars from both the humanities and social and behavioral sciences. This research also engages 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, Guatemala, and Russia. We firmly believe in the dissemination of Korean adoption studies scholarship to a public audience to address the gap between research and practice. We particularly welcome research that is jargon-free and accessible to a general audience.