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Amanda Heffernan, PhD, CNM, ARNP
Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Heffernan is a nurse-midwife, parent, and faculty in the midwifery DNP program at the College of Nursing. Her research interests sit at the intersection of migration and reproductive justice, including the impact of detention on families and the experiences of pregnant migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. She draws on her personal experience with migrant justice activism and asylum accompaniment to write and think about accompaniment as an engaged social justice practice. Her teaching interests primarily focus on supporting midwifery students through the intense and transformative journey of midwifery education. She currently serves as the midwifery program's clinical placement specialist.
Education
- University of New Mexico, 2023
- PhD, Nursing
- Thesis: Pregnancy in United States Immigration Detention: Listening to Migrant Women’s Stories
- Frontier Nursing University, 2013
- MSN, Nurse-Midwifery
- University of Washington, 2007
- BS, Nursing
- Whitman College, 2004
- BA, History
Courses Taught
- Reproductive Health Theory (NURS 3590, NURS 5212)
- Midwifery Integration Practicum (NURS 6201, 6203, 6207, 6209)
- Antepartum, Postpartum, and Newborn Care (NURS 6202)
- Community Development in Mexico (HUMT 3850)
- Migration and Health (UCOR 3600)
Publications
- Heffernan, A. (2022). Pregnancy in United States immigration detention: The gendered necropolitics of reproductive oppression. International Feminist Journal of Politics.
- Heffernan, A. (2021, July 28). Biden Says the US Will No Longer Detain Pregnant Migrants. Don't Be Fooled. Rewire News Group.
- Heffernan, A. (2020, May 30). COVID-19 is adding to existing disasters brewing in detention facilities. Tucson Daily Star.