Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

Second Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Gong, Yidong

Area of Concentration

Anthropology with Museum Studies Secondary Field

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how transracial Asian American adoptees relate to their cultural heritage. To understand this I ask: 1) What are the different perspectives that adoptees choose to culturally reconnect to their cultural heritage? 2) What are the reasons why they might choose to or not choose to connect to their heritage? 3) How do adoptees wrestle with and reflect on their upbringing, transition into adulthood, and respond to current events? 4) How can public awareness of cultural diversity within the Asian American adoptee experience be increased? To answer these questions, I conducted ethnographic research by interviewing ten Chinese American transracial adoptees to gain their perspectives and reflected upon my own experiences as an adoptee through auto-ethnography. Based on the narratives collected, I structure my thesis in three chapters. In the first chapter entitled “Familial Influence,” I study themes on kinship and parenting approaches. Within the second chapter entitled “The experience of Cultural Identity as Adoptees Approach Adulthood”, I explore kinship tourism and the college experience as examples of “Reculturation,” which is an independent process that adoptees may embark on in order to connect to their cultural heritage. Finally for the last chapter entitled “Societal Influence,” I focus on anti- Asian sentiment and Asian representation as influencing factors. This thesis also addresses gaps in research on transracial Asian Americans and offers original recommendations, notably through post-adoption programming recommendations and the presentation of two original ethnic identity models for Asian American transracial adoptees. Finally, another goal of this thesis is to spread public awareness about this topic. To do this, I created a public exhibition that focused on the perspectives of my adoptee participants through their voices and the objects they shared with me. This exhibition project served as a companion piece to the written thesis.

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