Welcome to our monthly compilation of good news, gathered from the college's faculty and staff! Would you like to include your own news or a colleague's? Send us your details on the CHSS Brag Points form (which also collects information we can share with Mason's Office of University Branding).
Awards
Kristina M. Olson, associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, has been honored with the Outstanding Service Award of the American Boccaccio Association at their Triennial Conference held at the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL. The American Boccaccio Association is an international, non-profit scholarly organization dedicated to the promotion of the study and teaching of Giovanni Boccaccio's life and works. Learn more about her award here. Congratulations, Kristina!
A shout out to Iccha Basnyat, associate professor of global affairs and communication, has been awarded the “Global Communication Award” by the National Communication Association (NCA). Her scholarship deeply engages with health communication in South Asia, integrating local knowledge systems and emphasizing community-based perspectives. Read her story here. Congratulations, Iccha!
Research
Christy Esposito-Smythers, professor of psychology, has received a grant for $590,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for a behavioral health workforce education and training program. The project aims to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals in clinical psychology, social work, and psychiatric nursing who are trained in culturally responsive, person-centered, evidence-based, and team-based care, and who are committed to work in primary care clinics that serve children, adolescents, and young adults, that are in mental health provider shortage areas.
Kudos to Gabrielle Tayac, Department of History and Art History, for receiving funding from the National Park Service for the project "INCL: Indigenous America 250 Community Engagement PHASE 2." This project supports Interpretation and Education for the Indigenous America 250, a collection of programs and initiatives focused on providing interpretation and education about Indigenous American history and culture. Learn more.
Appointments
Adam Winsler, professor of psychology, was named co-editor-in-chief of Society for Research in Child Development in its flagship journal: Child Development. The journal is internationally recognized for publishing rigorous and innovative research on the psychological, biological, and sociocultural aspects of child development. Read more about it here. Congratulations, Adam!
Elizabeth Freeman, associate professor in the School of Integrative Studies, has been appointed interim executive director of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC). Freeman’s research encompasses a wide range of topics including animal well-being, behavior, and physiology. With her deep passion for wildlife and extensive scientific collaborations with the Smithsonian, other zoos, and government agencies, she is uniquely positioned to advance SMSC’s mission to develop leaders in biodiversity conservation through innovative education, training, and research. Congratulations, Elizabeth!
Articles
Eileen Roesler, assistant professor of psychology, has recently published “Why Highly Reliable Decision Support Systems Often Lead to Suboptimal Performance and What We Can Do About It, to appear in: IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems.” The review article covers reports on how human-AI teams perform worse than AI alone when asked to step in. They question the implications of human oversight on AI. She gave a related presentation at the CHSS event: Human-Centered AI Bridging Humanities, Social Sciences and Technology last April. Congratulations, Eileen!
Congrats to John Dale, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Samuel Carter, a PhD student in the College of Science’s Department of Computational and Data Sciences, published an article, "Social Bias in AI: Re-coding Innovation through Algorithmic Political Capitalism" in the journal AI & Society. The article proposes a framework for understanding and mitigating the harmful social biases and inequities reproduced by artificial intelligence systems.
A shout out to adjunct faculty Christopher Stitt, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, on his upcoming book, “Scaling Pyramids—Leadership Lessons from a Mid-Level Bureaucrat.” Stitt combines his own extensive experience with contemporary leadership research to provide practical lessons on leadership within the confines of the bureaucratic organizational pyramid. “Scaling Pyramids” will be out on October 27. Learn more here.
October 14, 2025