Forums

Outsiders Within Discussion
Saturday, March 15 from 3:30-5:30pm at KoRoot

The purpose of this discussion group is to create a space in which adoptees can discuss, critically, areas of adoption that are not often spoken of, and to bring adoptees together so that we can learn from one another in reference to the text. For this meeting, please read Chapters 6-8 and come prepared with questions, passages, or points that are interesting to you. Some things to think about while reading might be: race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability, while also keeping in mind the ways in which power and privilege intersect and influence these subjects. We will also have some prepared questions for discussion.
Please note that this event is open to adoptees only.
Discussion Group Information: Please read Chapters 6-8 before coming to the discussion.
Contact: For questions about the group, please contact Joo Ae: Shinjooae@gmail.com

~ ASK February Events ~
Valentine's Day Action
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ASK Monthly Forum
Thursday and Sunday
February 14 and February 17
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Join us for the next ASK Monthly Forum!
Saturday, October 20 from 4-6pm at KoRoot
A Conversation with Single Mothers
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Special Guitar Concert
Conversation with single mothers
The number of single mothers who choose to keep their children to raise is increasing every year. ASK is pleased to invite some of these single mothers to speak about their experiences of raising their children. Discussion and Q&A included.

This month we will show the film, Daughter from Danang, and have a short discussion. This documentary feature follows the reunion of Heidi Bub, who was adopted to the U.S. in 1975 through Operation Babylift, with her Vietnamese birth family. Daughter from Danang was released in 2002 and screened at several international film festivals. It was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
For more information about the documentary, please go to:
http://www.daughterfromdanang.com/
The ASK Monthly Forum is open to anyone who is interested in adoption-related issues.

This month, ASK is pleased to welcome international documentary filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem. Deann, a Korean adoptee who grew up in the United States, will be in Korea filming her second documentary, Precious Objects of Desire. Her first film, First Person Plural, has been widely screened throughout the United States on public television and at private and public screenings, as well as in Korea and at international film festivals. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to see some short excerpts of Deann's upcoming film and to hear her discuss the process of making it.

For more about Deann's first film, go to http://www.asiasource.org/arts/borshay.cfm

ASK is pleased to invite you for a discussion with Jane Jeong Trenka. Jane is the author of The Language of Blood: A Memoir, and, with Julia Chinyere Oparah and Sun Yung Shin, co-editor of Outsiders Within: Writings on Transracial Adoption. Jane will discuss Outsiders Within, the growing global transracial adoptee movement, and some recent thoughts on transnational adoption, citizenship and immigration, and the role of the law in adoption. Jane first came to Korea in 1995 and has lived there since 2004.
http://outsiderswithin.blogspot.com/
http://www.languageofblood.com/

ASK, together with GOAL, is pleased to invite you to a screening of a new documentary by a Korean adoptee, with a discussion of the film to follow. This Forum will be presented in English.

ASK is pleased to invite you for an evening of discussion with Chongwol Sunim, a student of the female zen master Dae Haing. Chongwol Sunim will discuss intercountry adoption from a Buddhist perspective, touching upon essential human rights issues. He has prior spoken to young adoptees and also been involved with family searches. Chongwol Sunim is currently the head of Hyundae Bulkyo Media Center in Seoul.

ASK is pleased to invite you for an evening of discussion with one of the leading experts in the field of child welfare and social services in Korea. In-sun Park holds a Ph.D. in Social Work and has worked in the field of child welfare for the past 30 years, actively questioning current policies and critically thinking about the subject. A former professor of social work at Ewha Woman’s University, Dr. Park now operates her own research facility in Seoul, the HaeSong Child Welfare Research Center. She is also the editor of People Who Search, a book that details her research on adult adoptees and includes adoptee writing.
Please visit our ARCHIVE to read Dr. Park’s paper, "Looking After Our Child With Our Hands" and a 1998 interview with Dr. Park in Korean Quarterly.

This month, we are pleased to welcome Yang Seung Ju, who became the MOGEF’s Director of Family Policy last year. In December, Ms. Yang spoke at a hearing held by Congresswoman Jang Hyang Sook, at which ASK members were also participants. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in Agricultural Economics from Korea University and has been involved in fostering women’s
development in Korea.
There will be an informal discussion with Ms. Yang and time for your questions.
This Forum will have Korean to English interpretation.