Amy Reed-Sandoval

Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy
Expertise: Political philosophy, Latin American and Latinx philosophies, Bioethics, Feminist philosophy, Philosophy for children, Migration philosophy

Biography

Amy Reed-Sandoval is an associate professor of philosophy and participating faculty in UNLV's Latinx and Latin American Studies program. Her areas of expertise include political philosophy, with a special interest in issues of migration; Latin American and Latinx philosophies; bioethics; and feminist philosophy.

Reed-Sandoval's most recent research explores how crossing U.S. state and national borders for pregnancy-related medical care (including prenatal care, labor and delivery, and abortion care) impacts pregnant people’s self-trust and autonomy. She also studies what these medical encounters and related experiences can teach us about gender and global justice.

She is the founding director of the Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands program in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, she launched its offshoot — Philosophy for Children Without Borders, a free online philosophy course for Spanish-speaking children and youth.

Reed-Sandoval is the author of Socially Undocumented: Identity and Immigration Justice (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Education

  • Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Washington
  • M.A., Philosophy, University of Washington
  • M.Sc., Philosophy and Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • B.A., Philosophy, Temple University

Amy Reed-Sandoval In The News

Filosofie Magazine
There’s an intimacy in the way people experience borders,” says Amy Reed-Sandoval, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “Borders help shape people’s identities . I once spoke to a woman who had traveled from Canada to New Mexico for an abortion. It was a horrible situation where the baby wouldn’t survive the birth. Because of the controversy surrounding abortion in the United States, she was afraid of being questioned at the border and sent back. She said afterward that the fear of the imaginary border agent had robbed her of the opportunity to grieve for her unborn child. The border changed this woman’s feelings and her life story.”
Las Vegas Review-Journal En Español
Combining the education of children with that of future professionals is the perfect combination for the practice of UNLV philosophy students who have a joint preschool program on campus where they encourage children under 5 years old to do or think about big questions and interact with the world around them daily.
San Bernardino Sun
In 1988, author and women’s studies professor Evelyn Torton Beck published an article entitled “The Politics of Jewish Invisibility” in which she lamented “the silence surrounding the recognition that anti-Semitism, whose shadow continues to fall on women’s lives, is, or ought to be, a feminist issue.”
The Nevada Independent
The invitation says no children, and where my children aren’t welcome, I’m not either.

Articles Featuring Amy Reed-Sandoval

students in spring
Campus News | May 1, 2024

News highlights starring UNLV students and faculty who made local and national headlines.

Dancers with the U.N.L.V. Ewalu Club
Campus News | October 4, 2022

A collection of news stories highlighting research wins, expert insights, and academic achievement.

person with school face paint
Campus News | November 4, 2021

A collection of news stories featuring stargazing and change at UNLV.

Claytee White sits in a chair and gestures toward a woman sitting to her right
Arts and Culture | December 30, 2020

A sampling of university experts who sounded off on the year’s monumental movements surrounding race, ethnicity, and gender.