In the Loop: The HDO Blog
Women’s History Month Series
March 1, 2022 How this multihyphenate HDO alum supports women, uses her HDO education daily and the piece of advice she has for women beginning their careers in 2022 Leslie M. Dill Business Development & Marketing Coordinator, HDO To kick off our celebration of...
Alumni Spotlight: Shannon Myers Johnson
How an HDO alum and strategy realization leader navigates a data-driven world with empathy and a passion for understanding. Leslie M. DillBusiness Development & Marketing Coordinator, HDO February 14, 2022 Shannon Myers Johnson is currently the Director of IT...
It’s Time To Ditch Christmas As We Know It
December 21, 2021
John W. Traphagan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Anthropology; Professor, HDO
The trappings of Christmas often bring up romanticized images of decorated buildings and happy children ripping open packages under the tree. It certainly looks nice. But Christmas is a holiday we sorely need to rethink.
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Organizational Agreement
November 15, 2021
Dr. Amy Ware
How an NGO’s deferential approach created the conditions for a successful vaccination campaign
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Brain Power: Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, PhD
November 8, 2021
Dr. Amy Ware
Hello and welcome to the third episode of HDO’s “Brain Power” series! In today’s episode, Amy interviews Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English, the Director of UT’s Comparative Literature Program, and a member of the faculty team that helped design HDO’s unique curriculum. Elizabeth teaches in HDO’s Master’s and Professional Training programs.
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Why Spelling and Grammar Matter
October 19, 2021
John W. Traphagan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Anthropology; Professor, HDO
Although you cannot guarantee how others will interpret what you write, you can be certain whatever you write will be interpreted as saying something about the author.
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Brain Power: Sara Llansa (MA, Class of 2017)
October 14, 2021
Dr. Amy Ware
Welcome to the second episode of HDO’s “Brain Power” series. In today’s episode, Amy interviews HDO Master’s alumna Sara Llansa, Director of Houston ISD’s EMERGE program. EMERGE empowers and prepares high-performing youth from underserved communities to attend and graduate from the nation’s top colleges and universities.
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The Downside of Hyper-Positivity at Work
September 21, 2021
John W. Traphagan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Anthropology; Professor, HDO
Amidst all the happy face emojis and exclamation points punctuating mundane sentences with false familiarity, how often do people ask if all that positivity is, well, positive?
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This is When Goal-Setting Gets in the Way of Happiness
September 7, 2021
John W. Traphagan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Anthropology; Professor, HDO
We live in an age of anxiety driven by an economic model of life where much of what we do is based on a contrast between where we are and where we think we want to be. We set goals that assume the goal of life itself is to attain, acquire, and become, whether that which we gain comes in the form of money, achievement, or recognition. Teachers, relatives, and others tell children to set goals about which college to attend or what career they plan to develop. What do you want to be when you grow up? Aim high!
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On The Value of Jerks
July 29, 2021
John W. Traphagan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Anthropology; Professor, HDO
There is a great deal of conversation these days about the importance of mentorship. We need to mentor new hires in companies or junior faculty at universities. It’s essential to help them find ways to be successful. We need to be there for them. That’s part of having an empathetic and supportive workplace. And we all want that, right?
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