Congrats to our numerous CHSS faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have been selected as 2025-26 George Mason University Kindness Ambassadors. Kindness Ambassadors are selected from our university community, including students, staff, faculty, and alumni, for the ways in which they embody kindness and work to share it with others.

We've updated the CHSS Brag Points form to include space for faculty and staff to share story ideas. Let us know what's happening in your department and what moments or milestones deserve a spotlight. We welcome news about research, high-impact classroom initiatives, student and faculty achievements, career-readiness opportunities, Grand Challenge Initiative-related activities, and more! We'd love to hear from every department and program.

George Mason University and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences invite you to the Winter University Commencement Ceremony on December 18 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and the CHSS Degree Celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. Both ceremonies will be held at EagleBank Arena.

Please let your students know that George Mason University Foundation scholarships are available and are open to all continuing undergraduates, admitted transfers, and graduate students.

Faculty Research and Development Awards (FRDA), funded by CHSS, are short-term awards that are designed to help tenured and tenure-track faculty initiate new programs of research and scholarship or enhance existing ones. The application portal will open in January 2026. Complete applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on February 13, 2026, using the Submittable platform.

Mason's Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact will be offering an NSF CAREER Writing Program, which is designed to strengthen faculty competitiveness for the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program through a structured writing process, targeted mentorship, and access to grant writing resources. Registration is required.

Qualtrics will be hosting several virtual training events this December including a Learn Qualtrics Live and Qualtrics AI: Getting Started with Core Features. Registration is required.

COSSA will be hosting its 2026 Social Science Advocacy Day March 23-24, 2026, in Washington, DC. Social Science Advocacy Day brings together social and behavioral scientists and science advocates from across the country to engage with policymakers in Congress about issues important to our community, such as federal funding.

Headlines is a webinar series that helps keep COSSA member organizations apprised of the latest policy developments affecting social scientists and shares information on timely and emerging issues. COSSA will host its final webinar of 2025 on December 10, which will cover key policy developments and congressional activity that affected the social and behavioral sciences in 2025 and preview what’s ahead for 2026.

Rania Zaied, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Communication, won first-place at the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, an engaging event that showcases the innovative research of doctoral candidates.

Kim isn’t surprised by the rise in interest in Korean art, given the popularity of K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Endress collaborated with Qatari and Chilean artists to paint large scale murals as part of JEDARIART program.

The research addresses enhancing curiosity to improve political conversations and relationships.

Tabarrok compares the poverty measure and the middle class measure.

Son discusses significance of rocket launch, says it adds to South Korea's credibility industrial-policy agenda.