Advocacy

Scholarship in Action

My advocacy work centers on gender justice, violence prevention, and equitable access to public higher education. Grounded in the belief that scholarship should help address the inequalities it seeks to understand, I work to bridge academic knowledge with public action through research, teaching, public scholarship, and collaboration with community organizations, students, faculty, policymakers, and advocates. I am also committed to ensuring that this work materially supports the communities it engages, including by donating my time and directing personal proceeds from my scholarship to organizations working on the issues my research addresses.

Gender Justice and Anti-Violence Advocacy

Amy Casselman-Hontalas with participants in Columbia University's Sexual Violence Response program

Roundtable discussion on gender-based violence at Columbia University Medical School.

My commitment to gender justice is grounded in the belief that preventing violence requires both confronting the conditions that make people vulnerable and strengthening the institutions, policies, and communities responsible for their safety. I am especially interested in how law, inequality, and institutional power shape who is protected, whose experiences are recognized, and whose voices are heard.

I bring this commitment into my research, teaching, public scholarship, and advocacy. Through invited talks, public lectures, media interviews, and documentary work, I engage broader audiences on gender-based violence, legal accountability, and the importance of survivor-centered approaches to prevention and response. Across this work, I aim to make research accessible beyond the university and to contribute to broader efforts to advance safety, dignity, and gender justice.

Funding for Public Higher Education

I believe in the transformative power of public higher education and in the principle that all people deserve access to high-quality, affordable learning opportunities. As a former community college student and an alum of both the California State University and University of California systems, I have benefited directly from California’s public higher education system. I now work with students in these same institutions and see firsthand how access can expand opportunity and transform the lives of students, families, and communities.

I have brought this commitment into state-level advocacy, including working alongside Assemblymember Miguel Santiago of California’s 54th Assembly District to support policies and funding priorities that expand access to public higher education, including tuition-free community college and pathways to tuition-free bachelor’s degrees.

On the Assembly floor at the California State Capitol.

Defending and Advancing Ethnic Studies

Danny Glover speaking during an Ethnic Studies advocacy action at San Francisco State University

Watch: Danny Glover, one of the original 1968 SFSU student strikers, returns to campus to speak in support of the Campaign to Defend and Advance Ethnic Studies.

Historic San Francisco State student strike in 1968

Watch: Archival footage of the 1968–69 SF State student strike. Read: “Ethnic Studies: Born in the Bay Area from History's Biggest Student Strike.”

I am a proud faculty member of the first and only College of Ethnic Studies, located at San Francisco State University. Established in 1969 as a result of the longest student strike in U.S. history, the College has played a vital role in expanding whose histories, experiences, and perspectives are taught and valued in higher education—a mission I deeply value as part of my commitment to educational equity and social justice. I have worked to protect the College through advocacy, including joining the student-led Campaign to Defend and Advance Ethnic Studies. This work involved close collaboration with students, colleagues, alumni, and community members, including campus organizing, negotiations with university leadership, and support for students during a 10-day hunger strike. These efforts contributed to approximately $733,000 in new and restored funding, departmental status for Race and Resistance Studies, the creation of Pacific Islander Studies courses, and the establishment of a minor in Arab and Muslim Ethnic Diaspora Studies. Read: my letter to the editor “Ethnic Studies Can Liberate and Save Lives,” Marin Independent Journal.

Community Support Through Service and Scholarship

Seal of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California

Prior to my career in academia, I served as a caseworker for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, providing support services for Native children and families. That experience shaped my scholarship and advocacy on violence against Native women, federal Indian law, tribal sovereignty, and Indian child welfare.

Personal proceeds from Injustice in Indian Country and “Taking the Children to Take the Land” support the White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society, the Native American Rights Fund, and the National Indian Child Welfare Association—organizations advancing safety, sovereignty, legal rights, and family well-being in Native communities.

As part of my commitment to supporting Native communities, I welcome opportunities to contribute my time and experience to Native organizations where they may be useful. I welcome inquiries from organizations interested in discussing ways I might support their work.

Supporting the Next Generation

Kyria Hontalas Petuskey seated at her desk

In memory of my sister-in-law, I established the Kyria Hontalas Petuskey Memorial Scholarship at San Francisco State University to support outstanding kinesiology students preparing for careers serving children with disabilities. Kyria’s dedication to movement science led to a long and distinguished career in pediatric medicine, and the scholarship seeks to carry her legacy forward by investing in the next generation of kinesiologists. Through this support, I hope to help future professionals bring the same sense of purpose and commitment to service that defined Kyria’s life and work.

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