The worst advice Yvonne Houy has received came from her mother: Go the safe route; become an accountant. 

"I understand my mother’s impulse: A major that leads toward a well-defined, always-in-demand job was the ideal for my war refugee mother who never had her own chance to pursue a university degree. I resisted this advice, and, instead, pursued a liberal arts education at UC Berkeley."

Houy forged her own creative path while embracing the possibilities that digital technologies offer. She came to UNLV in 2006 to teach in the Honors College and, for the past five years, has helped educate students in the arts and beyond as the learning technologist with the UNLV College of Fine Arts.

What did you do before coming to UNLV?

My first full-time position — while I was finishing my Ph.D. on propaganda in 20th-century media — was as a visiting assistant professor at the Claremont Colleges. First at Scripps College, a womens’ college, and then at Pomona College, a highly selective liberal arts college. I temporarily left academia to start a family with my husband [Journalism and Media Studies professor Julian Kilker], who had gotten tenure at UNLV. 

Years later, when our children were in school, the computer science education nonprofit Code.org approached me — out of the blue — to train teachers in their high school Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course. As a professional development facilitator, I have taught over 400 teachers from diverse disciplines and in multiple states how to introduce their students to coding, computational thinking, and ethical and social perspectives on computing. 

Tell us about an object in your office and what it represents to you.

I often wear a shawl crocheted by my grandmother: I know many people like her who don’t think of themselves as “artists” — but they are because they create remarkable or beautiful objects.

Since I started at UNLV, I’ve filled my office with works of art made or collected by me, family, and friends: photographs, prints, hand-woven textiles, wood carvings, LED light sculptures, and more. They remind me that artists are everywhere and that my work at the UNLV College of Fine Arts helps nurture artistic talent.

What inspired you to get into your field?

There is always something new to explore and learn. This could be helping faculty solve technical problems, finding better processes for mentoring students, or communicating how new technologies are changing teaching centuries-old disciplinary traditions.

In collaboration with the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru), I founded a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on these issues and aims to inspire others, most recently in a special issue on Artificial Intelligence and Possible Futures for the Arts. 

What is the biggest misconception about your field/job?

Working with digital technologies is anything but routine and boring. It is actually quite creative. It often involves thinking outside the box.

Is this what you thought you’d do when you grew up?

Most technologies I work with did not exist or were just emerging when I was a child, so there was no way for me to conceptualize what I do now. But in elementary school I knew I would be an educator. I’ve always loved literature and the arts. I was excited when the first Apple personal computer appeared in my middle school. When I first went online as a graduate student at Cornell University, I embraced the possibilities of the Internet. I am grateful to be able to combine all these passions in my daily work. 

When you’re out in the community or traveling, what’s the biggest misconception you encounter about UNLV?

That higher education is “elite.” UNLV serves our entire community — not “elites” — and helps people from many backgrounds fulfill their dreams. 

Name a person (or group of persons) on campus you’d like to thank.

I want to thank the College of Fine Arts faculty, and my husband, Julian Kilker. I am inspired every day by their dedication to their research, creative work, and the next generation. 

What advice would you give your younger self?

• “...success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” ― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
• "We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims." ― R. Buckminster Fuller