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
Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, assistant professor of criminology, law and society, has received the Faculty Researcher of the Year Award by the American Society of Criminology’s (ASC) Division of Victimology (DoV). This award is in recognition of her significant contributions in the area of victimology in the past two years, particularly her work examining the correlates/consequences of victimization and victim reporting/help-seeking behaviors. Congrats, Yasemin!
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron, associate professor of leadership studies, was named as an American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Diamond Honoree to the ACPA Foundation’s Class of 2026. She was selected for her outstanding contributions to ACPA, student affairs and services, and higher education, and an opportunity to raise funds for future work and scholarship. Congrats, Graziella!
Kudos to Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English, on being selected as the recipient of the 2026 George Mason University Libraries Fenwick Fellowship for her project “Tituba Indian: The History of an American Cultural Figure.” The fellowship begins in January 2026.
Research
A shout out to Susan Howard, associate professor in the School of Integrative Studies, on delivering the keynote address, “Gaming to Uncover Unseen Links Between People, Animals, and Ecosystems,” at Colorado State University’s One Health Day Celebration in November. Her keynote highlighted her applied and pedagogical research on game-based, participatory, and systems-thinking approaches to understanding and addressing One-Health challenges.
Appointments
Jeff Grim, assistant professor of higher education, will be a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford Department of Education from January to May 2026. Congrats, Jeff!
Articles
Kudos to Auzeen Shariati, director of undergraduate programs and associate professor of criminology, law and society, on her latest article, “Help-seeking behaviors of stalking victims: Integrating regression and machine learning to examine how victimization consequences shape victims’ decisions” being published in the Journal of Criminal Justice. Congrats, Auzeen!
Alum Steve Gladis, MA English ‘84, PhD Education ‘95, will release his new book, The Brides of War: A Vietnam War, in Fall 2025. Gladis offers an intimate moving portrait of women whose lives were shaped not by the battles they fought, but by the men they loved—and the geography that brought them together. Learn more here. Congrats, Steve!
November 18, 2025