Episode 173: Liz Cannon, Ph.D & Amney Castaneda, Ph.D - Somewhere Over the Moon Trainings
Get to know Liz Cannon, Ph.D & Amney Castaneda, Ph.D.
This podcast episode features Dr. Liz Cannon and Dr. Amney Castaneda, the founders of Somewhere Over the Moon Trainings. They discuss their career-long dedication to LGBTQ+ advocacy and education. The conversation explores the shifting landscape of higher education and social justice, highlighting how storytelling serves as a vital tool for fostering human connection and empathy. Through their business, the guests provide specialized training in mental health, suicide prevention, and facilitating difficult dialogues, emphasizing that hope and joy are radical, necessary acts of defiance in a polarized climate. Ultimately, the episode serves as an elegant call for community support and active listening, urging listeners to embrace their neighbors' stories to bridge cultural divides.
If you would like to send questions, shoutouts, or stories to be played in a future episode, please leave a voicemail at 920-385-5073 or email: askthekosh@gmail.com
Links:
https://somewhereoverthemoon.training/
Co-founder/Lead Trainer
I hold a Ph.D. in English Literature with a specialty in Women’s Writing and Feminist Theory from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and I am currently an Emeritus LGBTQ+ Resource Center Director at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I founded and served as the director of this center for 14 years and as a senior lecturer in Women’s and Gender Studies for 25 years. Prior to directing the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, I founded and directed the Women’s Center on the UWO campus as well. I also developed, coordinated, and taught for the LGBTQ Studies certificate program. I have been developing curriculum for SAFE Ally trainings and other LGBTQ and diversity trainings for 25 years. So it was a natural step for Amney and me to create our business, Somewhere Over the Moon Trainings when I retired. In my free time, I rode horses, and I still lift weights and hike in nature whenever I can.
Somewhere Over the Moon Co-Owner, Full Professor and Associate School Director in Counseling and Human Services at UWO.
Amney Castaneda, Ph.D., N.C.C. is a Full Professor, Associate School Director, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Clinical Mental Health Program Coordinator in Counseling and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Amney is also co-owner of Somewhere Over the Moon Trainings, a company that provides LGBTQ+| and DEIJ trainings to the community. She also has taught the Trans and Nonbinary Lives Course as well as the Bi/pan/poly Lives course for many years for the LGBTQ Certificate in the Women and Gender Studies Department. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Auburn University in May of 2008. Amney engages in a variety of service and scholarly work related to Social Justice and Multicultural Considerations. She is a Past President of SAIGE, the LGBTQ+ Division of the American Counseling Association and was a co-author of both sets of competencies for working with the LGBTQ+ clients. She also served as a SAFE trainer and a Trans Safe Trainer on campus and in the community for many years and is active and involved in a variety of other LGBTQ+ committees and advocacy work. Amney has presented and published widely on LGBTQ+, Multicultural, and Social Justice topics, including LGBTQ+ populations in corrections.
