Which social identities are the most salient for you?
 What experiences related to this identity(ies) have been consistent?
 What experiences relate to this identity have shifted over time?
 Can you identify any themes for these experiences?
What is it that you would like to share with others about your experience?
How does your experience with regard to “x-identity” shift in different spaces?
Consider: family, friends, colleagues in higher ed, other industries etc.
What messages about your race/ethnicity have you received throughout your life?
What do you hope to help others understand about your racialized experience(s)?
What unanswered questions do you have about your own identity(ies)?
How do you like to express yourself?
What brings you joy?
[If relevant] What has being multiracial or adopted mean to you?
NASPA Pre-Conference #53: Redefining Race-Based Narratives
This session is designed to expand participants’ frame of reference for
multiracial and transracial adoptee identity. Participants will learn
and practice storytelling tools, focusing on arts-based inquiry and
critical autoethnographies from the lens of multiracial, transracial
identity and transracial adoption frameworks.
Presenters:
Abby Chien (she/her/hers)
Benjamin Jose Beltran (he/him/his)
Matthew Jeffries (he/him/his)
Christina Wan (she/her/hers)
Key Concepts & Language:

Biracial

Multiracial
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One Drop Rule
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Intersectionality
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“The Borderlands” - Gloria Anzaldúa
Adoption – The legal process of becoming a parent to a non-biological child
Adoptee – A person who joins a family through adoption
Closed Adoption – An adoption where there is no contact between the birth parents and the
adoptive parents
Open Adoption – An adoption that allows some form of association between the birth parents,
adoptees, and adoptive parents. This can range from picture and letter sharing, to phone calls, to
contact through an intermediary, to open contact between the parties themselves
Adoptive Identity Development – How an adoptee can “reflect on the meaning of adoption
or actively engages in a process of gathering information or decision-making about what
adoption means in his or her life” (Korff & Grotevant, p. 394)
Birth Family – The family to which one was born into
Adoptive Family – The family to which one is adopted into
Foster Family – A family with whom one lives with temporarily.
Transracial Adoption — The act of placing a child of one racial or ethnic group with adoptive
parents of another racial or ethnic group.