Academia Category
Work at 38.
Posted on July 11, 2024 2 Comments
11 July 2024 I turned 38 this week. Growing up, my dad often repeated the advice to find what I love to do in the world and then find a job that would pay me for it. Perhaps a little trite, but that advice has been humming in the background of my mind as I’ve […]
Do-overs only exist in blogs.
Posted on March 26, 2024 Leave a Comment
26 March 2024 Last month I was fortunate to win the Early Career Scholar Award at the Academy of Human Resource Development conference in Arlington, VA. While I had been informed that I was winning, I didn’t realize (or remember) that I would have the chance to give an acceptance speech. When my name was […]
I judge a university by its trees
Posted on April 20, 2023 Leave a Comment
20 April 2023 I judge a university by its trees,for trees are metaphorsfor the intellectual life. Trees need space to growboth above ground and below.And under the footsteps of passers byno one sees how they struggleand stretch blindly in the darkness. Trees do not grow quickly,but each day there is change —movement and growth, however […]
An annoying paradox of deep learning
Posted on April 10, 2023 2 Comments
10 April 2023 I’m listening to the popular 2021 book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. I feel like I’ve somewhat outgrown these types of books (journalist-authored, story-based, pop social science), but I like the general idea and it was for sale on Apple. I’ve always been more of a […]
The quiet parts of academia
Posted on March 27, 2023 Leave a Comment
I like the quiet parts of academia.Quiet offices and libraries.Staring out windows, the noise outside dulled by a windowpane.Quiet reading and thinking. (Sometimes thoughts are noisy, though.)Quiet writing, except for the clanking of keys, of course, but even that is punctuated by pauses.The quiet parts are my favorite. They’re much different from inboxes, which are […]
New role as Associate Editor of Human and Workforce Development at the Journal of Tropical Futures
Posted on January 22, 2023 Leave a Comment
22 January 2023 As many of you know, a lot of my academic work has focused on issues of human resource development in Southeast Asia. After living and working in Thailand for four years and working on organization development in Myanmar, I have been deeply curious about the power of learning and change in communities, […]
The Importance of Early Experiences in Scholarship
Posted on February 6, 2022 Leave a Comment
6 February 2022 Out for a run in my Baton Rouge neighborhood, I listen to a podcast by author and journalist Sebastian Strangio about his updated book on Hun Sen and Cambodia published by Yale University Press. I don’t typically listen to podcasts while running, but the lack of trails within running distance from my […]
Recent work in Southeast Asia
Posted on January 19, 2022 Leave a Comment
19 January 2022 I’ve been fortunate to continue academic work in Southeast Asia despite (or because of) the global pandemic. Some of this has been the result of publishing my book, Developing human resources in Southeast Asia: A holistic framework for the ASEAN Community, which came out in September and has given me additional visibility […]
Taking pride in what we do as scholars
Posted on November 30, 2017 Leave a Comment
With the grave implications of the Republican tax bill for graduate students and freedom of speech on campus under fire, it’s easy to get down on what it means to be a scholar today. That being said, the editorial in the August issue of the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) provides some much-needed inspiration. Markus […]
What the heck is employee engagement?
Posted on October 17, 2017 Leave a Comment
We live in the age of personal branding where everyone is trying to find their niche, make their mark, and create something never before seen. Academia is not immune to this annoying tendency. A somewhat recent trend has revolved around the idea of engagement in the workplace. It seems there is a tangled list of […]
Oliver S. Crocco 