Conference Schedule
Please note that all times are US Central Time.
Friday's Schedule (November 8, 2024)
9:00 - 9:30 am: Welcome 9:30 - 11:15 am: JaeRan Kim Keynote Address 11:30 - 1:00 pm: Breakout session #1 1:15 - 2:45 pm: Breakout session #2 3:00 - 4:30 pm: Breakout session #3 4:45 - 6:15 pm: Breakout session #4 6:30 - 8:00 pm: Therapeutic Workshops |
Saturday's Schedule (November 9, 2024)
9:00 - 9:30 am: AKA Member meeting 9:45 - 10:15 am: Vanguard Award Presentation 10:15 - 12:00 pm: Astrid Castro Keynote Address 12:15 - 1:45 pm: Breakout session #5 2:00 - 3:30 pm: Breakout session #6 3:45 - 5:15 pm: Breakout session #7 5:30 - 7:00 pm: Wrapup. Facilitated Group Discussion |
Session |
Zoom Room A |
Zoom Room B |
Zoom Room C |
Friday: Breakout Session #1 |
Max Weinberg & Isaac Etter: Unpacking the Life of an Adoption Educator (Who is an Adoptee?) |
Heena Khan: Sand Tray Therapy for the Adoption Triad |
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao: How the Story Heals the Storyteller: Narrative Therapy and Adoption |
Breakout Session #2 |
Katherin Garland: Counternarrative: The Real Effects of Search and Reunion and How Adult Adoptees Can Prepare |
Suzanne Bachner: Searching Through Story: Freedom, Fantasy & the Adoptee Imagination |
Bethany Fraser: Redefining the Adoptee Experience: A Journey of Truth, Trust, and Transparency |
Breakout Session #3 |
Linda R. Sexton: What I Wish I Had Known at the Start of My Open Adoption Journey |
Kelly Rich: Counternarratives in Adoption Literatures: Rhetoric, Connection, Archives |
Ereka Howard: Identity Formation in Adoptees |
Breakout Session #4 |
Christelle Pellecuer: Identity and Heritage: reclaiming myself and my identity through my cultural heritage and my ancestral roots. |
Chaitra Wirta-Leiker: Reframing Adoptee Struggles into Superpowers |
Brad Ewell: Reunion Status: It's Complicated |
Therapeutic Workshops |
Shelley Gaske: The Speculative Truth: A Writing Lab for Adoptees |
Liz DeBetta: Taking Back the Narrative and Migrating Toward Wholeness |
Lori Evans Emi: Acknowledging, Releasing, Transforming and Becoming |
Saturday: Breakout Session #5 |
Sara DeRoo: Finding Hope after Systemic Bias toward Adoptees- Our Story |
Cherish Asha Bolton: Special Considerations on Sexuality, Sex Education, and Relationships for Adoptees |
Marci Purcell, et al: Estrangement in the Adoption (panel) |
Breakout Session #6 |
Monica Hall: I Think I Want to Write My Story!? |
Katy Finn: Shifting the Adoption Narrative: The role and power of adoptive parents in de-centering their place in the adoption narrative. |
Rebecca Berg: Living in Your Body as an Adoptee: Re-writing your Body Image Story |
Breakout Session #7 |
Taya Reed: I Found Her (workshop) |
María Valiente: Book Talks: Adoption in KidLit |
Lori Evans Emi: Honoring Your Adoption Narrative Through the Universal Language of Song |