The Origin of Adoption Studies: Betty Jean Lifton 50 Years Later

deadline for submissions: 
March 10, 2024
full name / name of organization: 
The Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture
contact email: 

In 2025, the adoption community is celebrating the 50-year anniversary of Twice Born: Memoirs of an Adopted Daughter by Betty Jean Lifton. This seminal text in adoption studies was at the origins of adoptee rights movements, and it inspired its own body of scholarship. The Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture is seeking submissions that engage with this text and/or its paratextual materials from a variety of disciplinary perspectives for a guaranteed session at the MLA Convention in New Orleans on January 9-12. Presentations that engage with the presidential theme “Visibility” are especially welcome. Please send your up to 250-word proposal and a CV to Marina Fedosik at mfedosik@princeton.edu by March 10, 2024.