
The Rudd Adoption Research Program, one of CRF's long-standing and most vital partners, is a center of excellence within the UMass Amherst department of psychological and brain sciences. CRF and the Rudd Adoption program share many resources and a common home on the sixth floor of Tobin Hall. Jennifer McDermott is the Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Interim Chair in the psychology department. In this capacity, she leads the Rudd Adoption Research Program and guides collaborative efforts between the two research centers.
The goal of the Rudd Adoption Research Program is to establish UMass Amherst as the leader in state-of-the-art research on the psychology of adoption through conferences, workshops, graduate and postdoctoral training opportunities, and stimulation of research activities. Similar to CRF's multidisciplinary approach and its mission to mentor the next generation of researchers, the Rudd Adoption program strives to develop synergy among scientists from different academic contexts who share interests in the many topics relevant to adoption. Program activities provide evidence-based practice in adoption and research-based information to influence policy at agency, state, federal, and international levels.
Adoption Research Conference
The Rudd Adoption Research Program, in collaboration with the Center for Research on Families, holds a bi-annual conference to illuminate new perspectives on adoption. The conference includes panel presentations by international scholars and is attended by professionals in the human services fields, students, social science researchers, other practitioners and community members.
Current Conference:
Adopted Adults: Connections Across Generations, a year-long virtual conference that features both personal and professional insights that are shaping the future of adoption research, drawing heavily on the insights and work of adult adoptees themselves.
Past Conferences can be viewed here.
Summer Adoption Research Institute
Graduate students and recent Ph.D.s with a strong interest in a career involving adoption research are invited to participate in the bi-annual Rudd Summer Adoption Research Institute. The Institute provides an opportunity for extended interactions and community-building among a small group of participants and research faculty. Participants attend a week-long series of sessions hosted by experts in the field and present their work in a poster session then discuss it with other participants and faculty. Click here to listen to an interview with former Rudd Chair, Dr. Grotevant discussing the 2019 Summer Adoption Research Institute.