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).
Kudos to Vivek Narayanan, associate professor of English, on being named a 2026 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Translation Fellow for the translation of his project “The Kuruntokai: A Poet’s Annotated Translation of a Legendary Ancient Tamil Anthology.” This project was also supported by a CHSS-funded FRDA Seed Funding Leading to External Funding.
Congrats to Debra Lattanzi Shutika, associate professor in the Department of English and director of the Folklore Program, received $120,000 from the National Park service for her research “Monocacy National Battlefield Ethnographic Overview and Assessment,” which documents the voices and experiences of those for whom the battlefield in Maryland is meaningful.
Elizangela Storelli, associate professor of sociology, received $58,000 from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) for “Project RETAINS (Responsive Efforts to Assure Integral Needs in Staffing).” The project assesses staffing and retention challenges across a wide range of emergency communications center sizes and locations to inform revisions to the RETAINS Toolkit and the APCO Staffing and Retention Effective Practices Guide. Way to go, Elizangela!
A shout out to John Kotcher, research associate professor and director of the Center for Climate Change Communication (4Cs), who received $210,000 from the U.S. Energy Foundation to build on nationally recognized climate and health research and a rapidly expanding clinician advocacy infrastructure. The project advances climate and health communication, advocacy, and education through nationally recognized programs and aligns with state and national plans to address climate and health equity by building physician leadership, promoting science-based policies, and empowering frontline communities with tools and resources. Congrats, John!
Congrats to Paul Cha, assistant professor of religious studies, has received a fellowship from Seoul National University. Cha will conduct research for his third book-length monograph and develop a new course examining Asian Americans and religion. The fellowship begins in July 2026.
Shout out to Nilima Hakim Mow, a PhD student in linguistics in the Department of English, on presenting her research on multilingual writers’ engagement with generative AI at the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Convention and Expo in March in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hakim contributed to global discussions on language, technology, and writing pedagogy. Congrats, Nilima!