Faculty bio | Research webpage | 541-346-3118 

Ellen Herman is an academic expert on adoption, psychology, psychiatry, family and gender studies, especially how they have developed throughout American history. Ellen is the author of "Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the United States" and is currently writing a new book on the history of autism spectrum disorder.

Recent Media: 
Far from the fairy tale: Broken adoptions shatter promises to 66,000 kids in the US (USA Today, May 19, 2022)
How an adoption broker cashed in on prospective parent’s dreams (The New Yorker, Oct. 18, 2021)
UO prof's amicus brief is part of Supreme Court foster care case (Around the O, Dec. 1, 2020)
Brush up on autism history with this website (Futurity, March 27, 2019)
A Court Battle Over a Dallas Toddler Could Decide the Future of Native American Law (The Atlantic, Feb. 21, 2019)
The twilight of closed adoptions (Boston Globe, Aug. 4, 2018)
Why is adoption so expensive? A look at the rising costs (Romper, Aug. 26, 2016)
New Oregon law makes adoption records easier to access than ever (The Oregonian, Dec. 17, 2015)
In gay marriage decision, Supreme Court turns to historians for insight (The Oregonian, June 26, 2015)
Our evolving understanding of autism (Cascade Magazine, Spring 2015)
After Haiti earthquake, spike in adoption requests benefits other countries in need (The Oregonian, April 3, 2010)