Korean Adoption and Its Global Legacies: 70 Years and Beyond

Northwestern University, Mu Films, and Me & Korea are pleased to announce Korean Adoption and Its Global Legacies: 70 Years and Beyond, a free conference at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL in memory of Dr. Sue-Je Lee Gage. The conference will take place over two days, from April 13 -14, 2024 and reflects on the origin and legacies of the world’s largest transnational adoption program seventy years after its inception.

Bringing together scholars, activists, adopted individuals, first families, journalists and filmmakers, conference speakers will offer new perspectives that challenge and expand our understanding of adoption’s beginnings in the context of war and militarism, while exploring present-day consequences of South Korea’s industrialized adoption practices on adopted Koreans and their first families.

EVENT DETAILS

REGISTRATION

Two Day Admission: free admission for both Saturday and Sunday events

Saturday Only: free admission for Saturday events ONLY

Sunday Only: free admission for Sunday events ONLY

Add-Ons: Meals and Refreshments add-on — choose Saturday, Sunday, or add both. See below for more details.

EVENT COST

Attendance to the conference on both days is free. However, if you wish to enjoy our catered meals and refreshments on-site each day, please be sure to purchase our add-on meal option when you register. Purchasing the meal add-on is optional, and not required to attend.

• Optional Saturday meal cost: $30 (includes continental breakfast, lunch, evening reception and light refreshments throughout the day)
• Optional Sunday meal cost: $20 (continental breakfast, kimbap to go and light refreshments throughout the day)

DATES & TIMES:

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 8:30am-7:45pm

Sunday, April 14, 2024, 8:30am-1:20pm

ACCESSIBILITY:

• The facilities at Northwestern University are ADA/Wheelchair accessible.
• When registering, please note whether you will need access to ASL or email confe rence@meandkorea.org to request ASL access. The deadline to request access in ASL is March 13.
• For additional inquiries about accessibility, please contact conference@meandkorea.org.

*To be respectful of those with allergies and environmental sensitivities, we ask that you please refrain from wearing strong fragrances.

*Masking is optional.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Saturday, April 13, 2024

8:30-9:00 Registration + continental breakfast

9:00-12:10 Morning session

12:10-1:10 Lunch

1:10-4:45 Afternoon session

4:45-5:45 Reception

5:50-7:45 Film Workshop

Session panels will include:

• Keynote Address from Dr. Yuri Doolan, Assistant Professor of History and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. He will discuss his new book, The First Amerasians: Mixed Race Koreans From Camptowns to America which tells the powerful, oftentimes heartbreaking story of how Americans created and used the concept of the Amerasian to remove thousands of mixed race children from their Korean mothers in US-occupied South Korea to adoptive American homes during the 1950s and 1960s.

• Dr. Kori Graves, Associate Professor of History, University at Albany, SUNY will discuss themes related to her book A War Born Family: African American Adoption in the Wake of the Korean War. This talk will describe how during and immediately after the Korean War African American soldiers in Korea and African Americans in the states learned about and then endeavored to adopt Korean children and the ways their efforts fit in the larger history of Korean transnational adoption.

• Dr. Catherine H. Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Asian Diasporic Literatures at Emerson College will discuss themes related to her work-in-progress book project Children Born of War, Adoptees Made by War that examines representations of Vietnamese mixed-race children from French Indochina through the Vietnam War.

• Dr. Rosemarie Peña, Founder and President of Black German Heritage and Research Association will speak about Black German transnational adoption, her own experiences as an adopted individual, and comparisons between Korea and Germany (via Zoom).

• Dr. Patti Duncan, Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University will discuss the ways war and militarism in South Korea shaped her own experiences as a mixed race Korean American woman. She will also consider overlapping experiences and connections among mixed race and adopted Koreans.

• Veteran Korean photographer and journalist, Yongnam Lee, will present his career-spanning work documenting the people living and working in U.S. military camptowns along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Through his photography and videography, Lee will discuss the experiences and advocacy of Korean women who worked in “comfort stations” for American troops and the lawsuit they brought that led to a South Korean Supreme Court victory in 2022.

• Panel discussion: Mixed race adopted Koreans will discuss their experiences building community, organizing around DNA testing, and charting new paths to recuperate their Korean histories and identities.

• Saturday evening's cultural program will feature a special sneak peek of the upcoming documentary, Between Goodbyes, directed by Jota Mun. The film focuses on Mieke, a Dutch-Korean adoptee, and her original mother Okgyun who was able to locate her daughter over twenty years ago. Despite a lifetime of distance and hurt between them, Okgyun and Mieke persist, finding ways to come together when they can. In addition to sharing preview clips, the event will include a Q&A with the director and the film's main participants: Mieke Murkes will be in-person while her parents, Okgyun and Kwangho, will join virtually from Seoul.

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Sunday, April 14, 2024

8:20-8:50 Registration + continental breakfast

8:55-11:20 Morning Session - Adoptees in Reunion Panel, Birth Families in Reunion Panel

11:20-11:50 Break

11:50-1:00 Afternoon Session - Adoptees Still Searching Panel

1:00-1:20 Chicago Korean Dance Company Performance and Closing Remarks

Sunday’s panels will focus on the long arc of Korean adoption and its impacts through the lens of birth family search. Panels will include presentations by:

• Dr. Sara Docan-Morgan, Professor of Communications Studies at University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. She will provide context for Korean adoptees’ experiences in long-term reunion relationships based on her book, In Reunion: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Communication of Family and will offer observations based on longitudinal interviews with Korean adoptees who have been in reunion for ten or more years.

• Minyoung Kim, Founder/Executive Director of Me & Korea. She will bring together the voices and experiences of two Korean mothers - one who was reunited with a child she was forced to relinquish to adoption 40 years ago, and another mom who is still searching - shedding light on the challenges in their journeys of relinquishment and reunion. The panel will also include a reunited Korean sibling who will offer insight into the impact of these experiences on their family dynamics.

• Dr. Oh Myo Kim, Associate Professor, Dept of Counseling, Development and Educational Psychology, Boston College. Dr. Kim will discuss her research on Korean adoptees through the lifespan, including her work on identity development and the search process, intergenerational themes, and Korean adoptees who have searched, but have not reunited, with their first families. Dr. Kim will moderate a panel of adoptees who are still searching, highlighting various challenges facing adoptees as they seek to reunite with Korean families.

• The conference will close with a performance by Chicago Korean Dance Company.

TRAVEL & LODGING INFO:

Air Travel

Look for flights into O'Hare (ORD) or Midway (MDW). ORD is the closest hub to Northwestern University Evanston, IL Campus.

Hotel Accommodations ALL HOTELS ARE ALMOST FULLY BOOKED - PLEASE CHECK BACK OCCASIONALLY IN CASE OF OPENINGS DUE TO CANCELLATIONS.

We have negotiated discounted rates at three hotels. All are within 1/2 mile of the conference location and within a five minute walk of each other.

The group blocks at all hotels are listed under "CHICAGO ADOPTEE CONFERENCE"

• Graduate Hotel Evanston - Williamsburg-style hotel built in 1927. Please note that this hotel is not especially handicap accessible and currently their elevators are being renovated. The elevators should be operational by mid March, however, you should only book knowing that it is possible that elevators may still be under renovation at the time of check in.

Group Rate:
$189 USD/Night - One Queen Bed
$189 USD/Night - Two Double Beds
$239 USD/Night - King Corner Room
You can also call 1 847-475-3300 and mention our group rates above.
VIEW HOTEL (CLICK HERE TO RESERVE A ROOM)

• Hyatt House Chicago/Evanston - pet friendly hotel with apartment style guest rooms. Perfect for sharing with a friend.
  
  Group Rate:
  $239 USD/Night - King
  $249 USD/Night - Two Queen (additional pricing for more than 2 guests)
  $289 USD/Night - One Bedroom King Suite (King Bed and Sofa Pullout)
  Breakfast is included in the rate
  Reservation deadline is 3/12 to secure the discounted rate
  You can also call 1 847 864 2300 and mention our group rates above if choosing triple or quad room rates.
  VIEW HOTEL (CLICK HERE TO RESERVE A ROOM)

• Hilton Orrington/Evanston - smaller rooms, but less expensive option especially for single occupancy.
  
  Group Rate:
  $195 USD/Night - King
  Breakfast is not included in the rate
  Reservation deadline is 3/13 to secure the discounted rate
  You can also call 1-800-HILTONS (1-800-445-8667 and mention group code 92T
  VIEW HOTEL (CLICK HERE TO RESERVE A ROOM)
  

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

KAtCH (Korean Adoptees of Chicago)

Council for Race and Ethnicity Studies

N. W. Harris Lecture Fund

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities

Buffett Institute for Global Affairs

Gender & Sexuality Studies Program

Program in Critical Theory

Department of Anthropology

Department of Sociology

Department of Political Science

Program in Comparative Literary Studies

Department of Asian Languages and Cultures

Asian American Studies Program

This conference is being held in honor of anthropologist Dr. Sue-Je Lee Gage, pioneering scholar of Amerasians in South Korea, change maker, and beloved teacher and mentor, whose talents and interests spanned the fine arts, the humanities, and the social sciences. For more information about the Sue-Je Lee Gage Sunlit Residency, please visit https:www.sunlitresidency.com.

CONTACT US:

Please email us at conference@meandkorea.org with any questions.