Signature Seminars
How History Shapes Business: Past, Present, Future
This course examines why and how countries conduct business differently, offering a critical framework for understanding effective global strategy and internationalization. Students will explore the historical foundations of contemporary differences in how nations organize economic activity, structure firms, and govern relationships among businesses, employees, customers, regulators, and other institutions.
Co-taught by an executive with extensive international experience and a business professor, the course bridges theory and practice. It draws on firsthand accounts, insights from a network of global business leaders, and a range of readings and case studies to illuminate the complexities of operating across diverse economic and cultural contexts.
Course Credit:
All Students:
- Honors College Credit
Coming soon
HNRS 401H3
Jon Johnson and Leigh Hopkins
Spring 2026
W 2-4:45 p.m.
FNAR 316
Course application required. Due March 12, 2026 at 5 pm.
Jonathan (Jon) Johnson is a University Professor and the Walton College Professor of Sustainability in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, where he has served on the faculty since 1996. He holds a B.S. in Zoology and an MBA from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Jon teaches courses in strategy, organization theory, research methods, innovation, sustainability, and the outdoor industries.
In addition to his teaching and research, Jon has led several major sustainability initiatives at the University of Arkansas, including founding The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) in 2009. He served as the inaugural chair of the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation (SEVI) until 2021, after which he became faculty lead for a grant-funded project to develop the Outdoor Products and Services (OPS) program. He is also a co-founder of the Master of Science in Product Innovation in SEVI.
Leigh Hopkins is a consultant, board member, and investor. He has over three decades of experience
in retail, banking, and strategic leadership.
He retired from Walmart in 2024, having been responsible for Walmart International’s overarching strategy, corporate development, and partnership activities, and as Regional CEO, overseeing businesses in Walmart’s largest and fastest-growing markets, including Walmex (Mexico and Central America), Walmart China, and the company’s operating subsidiaries in India - Flipkart, the leading e-commerce platform, and PhonePe, a digital payments and financial services business.
Leigh currently serves on the boards of PhonePe and Ninjacart (India’s leading agritech business), as well as professional theatre company TheatreSquared in Arkansas.
Leigh is also involved in consultancy work in retail and sports in Asia, as well as supporting a project to launch a STEM-focused, business-infused university on the site of what will become the former Walmart campus in Bentonville, AR.
Leigh holds an MA in Oriental Studies (Japanese) from Oxford University (Wadham College),
Stress & Its Consequences
Stress is a universal human experience, yet most of us are unaware of the many ways it shapes our bodies and minds. This course surveys the wide-ranging effects of stress—from hormone disruption and inflammation to changes in cognition and behavior. We will examine sensitive periods across the lifespan, beginning before birth and extending through old age, and explore why chronic stress is linked to shorter life expectancy. The course also highlights emerging research on resilience and the biological pathways that allow some individuals to thrive under pressure. Throughout, we will connect scientific findings to real-world contexts such as academics, work, relationships, and mental health.
By the end of the course, students will understand what happens inside the body during stress, how stress is measured, which experiences are most potent stressors, and the many ways stress influences cognitive functioning.
HNRS 401H3
Grant Shields
Fall 2026
T/TH 12:30-1:45 p.m.
GEAR 129
Course application required. Due March 12, 2026 at 5 pm.
We will also discuss both effective and maladaptive coping strategies, as well as the activities you should—and should not—undertake while stressed. Students will leave with practical tools for navigating stress more effectively and with a deeper appreciation of the science behind everyday experiences.
Course Credits:
All Students:
- Honors Credit
Coming soon
Grant Shields is an assistant professor of psychological science whose research investigates why cognitive clarity fluctuates from day to day. He studies executive control processes and episodic memory, focusing on how contextual factors—both external (e.g., encountering a stressor) and internal (e.g., altered glucocorticoid levels, anxiety)—shape these cognitive functions and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying those effects. Much of his work has examined the impact of experimentally induced acute stress on executive control and memory. To address these questions, he employs multiple methods, including computational cognitive modeling, hormone assays, and fMRI.
Shields was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science in 2023 and received the Dirk Hellhammer Distinguished Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology in 2024.