Karey Harwood

Bio

Dr. Karey Harwood is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State and also an Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGS) in Interdisciplinary Studies. She was the Coordinator of WGS from 2015 to 2022. She is now a Park Faculty Scholar for the Park Class of 2026. Dr. Harwood teaches courses at the intersection of Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She won the Outstanding Teacher Award in 2010 and the Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor award in 2019 and is a member of the NC State Academy of Outstanding Teachers. She is also an affiliated faculty member of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center.

She received her Ph.D. in 2003 from Emory University, where she studied religious ethics and the sociology of religion and morality and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Grant in Women’s Health. The focus of her research has been primarily in biomedical ethics and reproductive technologies. Her book, The Infertility Treadmill: Feminist Ethics, Personal Choice, and the Use of Reproductive Technologies, examined both the social context of reproductive technologies and the individual experience of infertility, including the tendency of reproductive technologies to function as a consumeristic rite of passage in coming to terms with infertility. More recent work has focused on egg freezing, repro-genetic technologies, and eugenics.

During a leave of absence from NC State in 2013-14, Dr. Harwood served as the Executive Director of Public Schools First North Carolina, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting public schools in our state.

Publications

Books:

Harwood, Karey. Wake: Why the Battle over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters, Rutgers University Press, 2024. https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/wake/9781978836563/

Harwood, Karey. The Infertility Treadmill: Feminist Ethics, Personal Choice and the Use of Reproductive Technologies. University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

Selected articles:

Harwood, Karey. “Which “New Eugenics”?: Expanding Access to ART, Respecting Procreative Liberty, and Protecting the Moral Equality of All Persons in an Era of Neoliberal Choice.” International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, vol. 13, no. 2, 2020, p. 148-173.

Harwood, Karey. “Freedom and Unavoidable Judgments: Response to ‘Nondomination and the Limits of Relational Autonomy’ by Danielle Wenner.” International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, vol. 13, no. 2, 2020, p. 56-59.

Harwood, Karey. “Decentering Whiteness in Feminist Bioethics: Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) as an Illustrative Case.” In Reproductive Ethics II: New Ideas and Innovations, edited by Lisa Campo-Engelstein and Paul Burcher, Springer Press, 2018, p. 99-112.

Harwood, Karey. “Egg Freezing and the Feminist Quest for Equality in the Workplace.” In Reproductive Ethics: New Challenges and Conversations, edited by Lisa Campo-Engelstein and Paul Burcher, Springer Press, 2017, p. 63-75.

Harwood, Karey. “On the Ethics of Social Egg Freezing and Fertility Preservation for Nonmedical Reasons.” Medicolegal and Bioethics, vol. 5, 2015, p. 59-67.

Harwood, Karey. “Bad Habit or Considered Decision? The Need for a Closer Examination of Prospective Parents’ Views.” International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, vol. 7, no. 1, 2014, p. 46-50.

Harwood, Karey. “Egg Freezing: A Breakthrough for Reproductive Autonomy?” Bioethics, vol. 23, no. 1, 2009, p. 39-46.

Harwood, Karey. “Teaching bioethics through participation and policy-making.” Essays on Teaching Excellence, POD Network in Higher Education, vol. 16, no. 4, 2004-2005.

Selected blog posts:

Harwood, Karey. A Good Man is Hard to Find: Egg Freezing and the “Mating Gap.” Bill of Health blog, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, August 30, 2023.

Harwood, Karey. On the Common Good and Medical Conscience Claims. IJFAB blog, January 23, 2018.

Harwood, Karey. Don’t Tread on Me: The Irony of Opting Out of Vaccination in an Era of Decreasing Reproductive Freedom. IJFAB blog, February 9, 2015.

Harwood, Karey. Further Thoughts on the Case of Imprisoned Mother Jennifer Whalen. IJFAB blog, September 24, 2014.

Harwood, Karey. Posthumous Reproduction. UNC Press blog, May 19, 2011.

Harwood, Karey. IVF Kids: Are They Really All Right? UNC Press blog, Oct. 6, 2010.

Harwood, Karey. Ethics and the California Octuplets Case. UNC Press blog, Feb. 6, 2009.

Funded Research

FRPD funded research project: “Public Moral Arguments Surrounding School Integration: Wake County’s Example,” 2018-2019

Area(s) of Expertise

Biomedical ethics, reproductive technologies, feminist theory.

Courses taught:

HSS 201 Critical Thinking in American Life: Engaging Across Difference
HON 296 Religion and Bioethics
PHI/STS 325 Biomedical Ethics
REL 200 Introduction to the Study of Religion
REL 327 Issues in Contemporary Religion
REL/WGS 473/573 Religion, Gender, and Reproductive Technologies
WGS 200 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
WGS/STS 210 Women and Gender in Science and Technology
WGS 300 Introduction to Feminist Theories
WGS 310 Women's and Gender Studies Internship
WGS 492 Theoretical Issues in Women’s and Gender Studies
MALS 501 The Ethics and Ideology of Choice