The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to present its 2021-22 Annual Report.
2021-2022 was a year of recalibration. As our college, the university community, our country, and the world transitions from a pandemic to an endemic, my colleagues and I are in the process of establishing
“new normals” in face-to-face, hybrid, and fully online modalities of teaching, learning, and working.
The pandemic certainly presented unprecedented challenges and disruptions over the last three years. Yet, it didn’t keep Mason from celebrating its 50th anniversary in grand style in 2022. This issue of our Annual Report allows us to reflect upon our accomplishments and highlight areas of growth as we plan for this college’s next 50 years. Here are a few areas that we celebrate and explore in this issue.
Inclusive student success
This past year we welcomed our most diverse and academically competitive incoming class of first-year students and transfer students from other universities and community college systems. Many of our undergraduate and graduate programs continue to rank nationally (see rankings on pages 6-7). We continue in our efforts to address issues in diversity, equity, and inclusion and mental health well-being across our campus community—and beyond.
Bold, field-defining research of consequence
Our faculty continue to be recognized nationally and internationally for their field-defining research and its applications. Stories in this issue range from a faculty member in the Department of Communication’s election to the National Academy of Medicine (Mason’s sixth and CHSS’s second) to a faculty member in the Psychology Department’s human factors and applied cognition program partnering with the military to develop robots that can be used—and trusted—in space travel.
The college’s chartering of a behavioral health research center and the renaming of our Center for Global Islamic Studies through a transformational gift are key milestones in our efforts to foster multidisciplinary research and teaching collaborations addressing the profound challenges our society faces, ranging from climate change, race relations, and immigration, to cross-cultural communication and appreciation of the global diversity of the human experience.
Excellence in teaching and curriculum innovation
The faculty in CHSS have a long-standing reputation for teaching excellence, and the stories featured here showcase some exciting new inter-institutional collaborations—in curriculum development as well as in teaching—that underscore the contemporary vitality and impact of education in our disciplines.
In all of the stories assembled here, you will find ample evidence of this college’s contributions to Mason’s vision, mission, and values as a comprehensive public research university that proudly serves a majority-minority and high first-generation-college-student population, and that brings research into practice through our partnerships and networks regionally, nationally, and globally.
I take this opportunity to thank our faculty, staff, students, alumni, partners, donors, and advisory board members for everything you do to support this college’s mission.
Ann Ardis
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
March 01, 2023