Why Reproductive Issues? Honors
When asked why she was interested
in Ethics and Reproductive Issues, Adrienne stated "I suppose probably being
a woman." Especially during the 1970s, Asch
began thinking about issues of abortion and rights of women, minorities, and
disenfranchised groups. She was especially interested in social justice
and how society
should spend their money.
Academic & Career Background
Asch attended Swarthmore College, a relatively small liberal arts school in Swarthmore,
Pennsylvania. Following Swarthmore, she attended Columbia University to obtain
her Masters degree in Social Work. It was at Columbia where she first realized
her spirited
interest in Bioethics. After graduating, she taught a course at Barnard College
titled,
"Disabled Persons in the American Society." Her next teaching experience was
at the University of Oregon where she taught a course on Reproductive Technology.
Following was
a Human Behavior course at Boston University, and finally, she came to
Wellesley
College to teach five courses on Reproductive Issues.
Asch loves teaching her Wellesley courses and currently teaches five extra-departmental
courses including
EXTD 103 Introduction to Reproductive Issues, EXTD
201 Current Issues in
Bioethics, EXTD
202 Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Abortion,
EXTD 203 Ethical and Social Issues in Genetics,
EXTD 204 Women and Motherhood and
EXTD 300 Ethical and Political Issues in Reproduction.
Other than getting the professorship at Wellesley College, Asch has received
many
other honors. These include
for colleges
who
take the initiative to create innovative professorships
Present Research
Asch is presently writing a book on cloning and a second book on assisted
reproduction, which includes topics such as sperm and egg donations and surrogate
motherhood.
(For a more comprehensive outline of Adrienne Asch's academic and career background,
Honors, and Publications, please see her Curriculum Vitae.)