Call for Proposals - Intercountry Adoption: Orphan Rescue or Child Trafficking?

[Ballard, Bert L]

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS
“INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION: ORPHAN RESCUE OR CHILD TRAFFICKING?”
PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 8-9, 2013

In February, the Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute for Law, Religion and Ethics at the Pepperdine School of Law will host its 10thannual conference.  This year we will explore the complexities of intercountry adoption from legal, social, and religious perspectives.  The Nootbaar Institute now welcomes proposals addressing this topic. Confirmed speakers include:



Bert Ballard
Communications Professor, Pepperdine University
Co-chair for the inaugural Intercountry Adoption Summit at the University of Waterloo, Canada


Elizabeth Bartholet
Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program,Harvard Law School


Naomi Goodno
Director, Byrne Judicial Clerkship Institute and Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine School of Law


Jedd Medefind
President, Christian Alliance for Orphans


Benyam Mezmur
Mellon-Research Fellow, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Second Vice Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child


Peter Selman
Visiting fellow, New Castle University, Britain
Advisor on statistics for the Special Commission on Intercountry Adoption


David Smolin
Harwell G. Davis Professor of Constitutional Law and Director, Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics, Cumberland Law School, Samford University
Independent Expert on Intercountry Adoption for the Hague Conference on Private International Law



If you would like to present a paper or organize a panel of 3-4 presenters, please submit your proposal by October 8, 2012 to dana.zacharia at pepperdine.edu<mailto:dana.zacharia at pepperdine.edu>. See below for suggested topics.

- Please forward this email to anyone who may be interested -

If you have questions about the substance of the conference, contact Bob Cochran at robert.cochran at pepperdine.edu<mailto:robert.cochran at pepperdine.edu> or Jay Milbrandt at jay.milbrandt at pepperdine.edu<mailto:jay.milbrandt at pepperdine.edu>. For questions about the details of the conference, contact Dana Zacharia by emaildana.zacharia at pepperdine.edu<mailto:dana.zacharia at pepperdine.edu> or by phone (310) 506-6978.

For more information on the Nootbaar Institute and to view details of past conferences, please visit:http://law.pepperdine.edu/nootbaar


SUGGESTED TOPICS:

LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES
-          The current status of the Hague Convention and Convention on the Rights of the Child
-          Number of orphans and inter-country adoptions from various countries in recent decades; Counting global “orphans” accurately (numbers, needs, and characteristics)
-          Child Trafficking/Child Laundering in Intercountry Adoption
-          Why are the numbers of inter-country adoptions falling dramatically?
-          Dealing with corruption and abusive adoption practice issues
-          How should limitations on costs and compensation to facilitators, agencies, attorneys, social workers, parents, and orphanages be defined and enforced?
-          Should we permit for-profit adoption entities to participate in inter-country adoption?
-          Adoptee deportation and citizenship
-          Should US agencies be held accountable for the wrongdoing of their foreign partners?
-          How can inter-country adoption be developed in a way that does not undermine positive development of local child welfare and human welfare efforts?
-          Providing accurate information in child study and home study documents:  the problem of matching and older/special needs placements
-          Subsidiarity in the intercountry adoption system

ADOPTION AND THE CHURCH
-          Biblical teaching on adoption and orphans
-          Orphan care v. widow and orphan care:  adoption v. family preservation/re-unification
-          Truth-telling and adoption:  the problem of “as if” and closed records adoption from a Biblical/Theology Perspective
-          Theology of Adoption
-          Terminology problems – Does, “The Least of These” stigmatize these children?
-          Is poverty a proper ground for inter-country adoption?
-          Church involvement – orphanages vs  boarding schools
-          Orphan care vs  Adoption
-          Role of the church in ministry to adoption triad members (adoptees as children and adults, original families,  adoptive families and families seeking to adopt)

FAMILIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES
-          Post-placement challenges and structures
-          Cultural identity challenges faced after children are placed in a family
-          Role of birth/original families in adoptive children’s lives
-          Is there a duty to provide reasonable family preservation efforts in a systemic way?
-          Importance of race to the identity of an adopted person
-          Future of post-adoption resources
-          Older children and special needs adoption

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
-          What are the social challenges of the substantial growth in those interested in adopting?
-          Child sponsorship and the risks it creates
-          What are the effects of voluntourism?
-          Role of adult adoptees in policy formation
-          Enhancing adult adoptee voice and representation
-          Identity and demographic issues of the “third” generation of adoptees – what does the future hold?
-          A voice for original/birth families


(apologies for multiple receipts)

Bert Ballard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Pepperdine University
Communication Division
CCB 259
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA  90263
310-506-6801

http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/academics/faculty/default.htm?faculty=robert_ballard

Fall 2012 Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2-4 pm and by appointment
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