CHSS Digest

March 3, 2021

CHSS Digest March 3, 2021

Colleagues,

I join President Washington in continuing to urge all faculty, staff, and students to remain vigilant regarding proactive steps we can take to keep each other healthy in the face of COVID-19.

There is good news about increased testing for the COVID-19 virus here at Mason and nationally, as well as word of vaccines becoming more readily available in the coming months. This hopeful news, however, cannot be a license for us to let down our guard.  

We have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to continue to wear face coverings properly, practice physical distancing, wash hands regularly, take the Mason COVID Health Check™ daily, and stay home and isolate when we feel sick. Through consistent adherence to these steps, we will continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 – including its variant strains – until we can truly begin to return to a “normal” university experience.

As President Washington noted in his remarks at the last Board of Visitors meeting, now is not the time to ease our vigilance.   

I thank you for your continued and consistent attention to keeping our community safe.

With all good wishes,

Ann

Announcements & Resources

Jen Barnard is Mason's March Employee of the Month

Jen Barnard, office manager in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, coordinates the department's 100+ faculty and staff members and over 1,000 students. Described as having a "Swiss Army knife" of skills, she was honored by Mason president Gregory Washington on March 1.

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New Marketing and Communication Help Site

New Marketing and Communication Help Site

Marketing and communicating are important means of sharing the word about our college and the opportunities for students here in CHSS. The CHSS marketing and communication team has prepared a help site full of information to answer your questions and offer ideas.

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CHSS Launches Staff Professional Development Working Group

This newly-formed committee will be exploring professional development opportunities for all college staff, reporting on their progress in the coming months.

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Department of Communication Named on PRNews’ 2021 Education A-List

Department of Communication Named on PRNews’ 2021 Education A-List

PRNews named #MasonCOMM as one of the best U.S. programs for advancing the careers of PR professionals, based on elements such as the variety of learning options and how Mason prepares students at all levels (BA, MA, and PhD) for career success.

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CHSS Interdisciplinary Support Fund

Faculty, staff and graduate students are encouraged to apply to the CHSS Interdisciplinary Support Fund for resources to encourage activities that highlight interdisciplinary, social justice, or global issues.

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Call for nominations: CHSS Alumni Awards

Call for nominations: CHSS Alumni Awards

Each year, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences presents awards to recognize alumni from every department who are making a remarkable difference in the world. Please consider making a nomination before the May 31 deadline.

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The CHSS Digest Newsletter: What would you change?

We need your input on making the CHSS Digest Newsletter work well for you. Would you answer a few brief questions?

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Research News

Experts discuss publishing in the humanities and social sciences

On February 19, 2021 CHSS Research hosted an event with a panel of publishing experts representing Duke University Press, Mason Publishing Group, and CHSS English, who discussed various topics regarding publishing in the humanities and social sciences. Topics included descriptions of types of publishing, how to engage with publishers, how to secure a contract for publishing, review processes, and more.

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Remember to use SciENcv for NSF biosketches and current and pending documents

Remember to use SciENcv for NSF biosketches and current and pending documents

The Mason Office of Sponsored Programs asks faculty to use SciENcv for the preparation of National Science Foundation (NSF) Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support proposal documents. As of October 2020 NSF began enforcing the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1) requirement to use NSF-approved formats for the preparation of the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support proposal documents.

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Mason Office of Sponsored Programs updates Policy 4012: Principal Investigators

In collaboration with the University's Research Council, the OSP Advisory Group, and other stakeholders OSP has updated existing research policies and associated procedures regarding Policy 4012: Principal Investigators.

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Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Call for Proposals

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) has released a call for proposals for The Role of Cybersecurity in the Spread of Disinformation and Misinformation. CCI seeks proposals from multi-disciplinary teams in the CCI network to conduct research on the how cybersecurity and artificial intelligence tools and concepts may help to limit, deter, or stop the creation and spread of disinformation and misinformation. The objectives of the program are: to provide seed funding for multi-disciplinary teams to address a research question that requires the combination of technical expertise in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence with expertise in the social sciences, humanities, and/or law; to generate research findings that advance the state of the art on the topic; and to increase the competitiveness of the teams for extramural funding.

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Research Brief: Corpus Analysis of Nominal Phrases with Numeral Classifiers in the Chinese System

Research Brief: Corpus Analysis of Nominal Phrases with Numeral Classifiers in the Chinese System

During summer 2020, PhD candidate Yamei Wang pursued her linguistics research into numeral classifiers in Chinese, considering how they collaborate with other parts of speech.

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CHSS in the Media

In the Hill, Mona Sarfaty urges administration to consider climate change a health emergency

In The Hill, the Center for Climate Change Communication's Mona Sarfaty co-authors a piece urging the Biden administration to consider climate change a health emergency, lauding initial steps and suggesting further actions.

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In Sapiens, Rick W. A. Smith argues that 2020's crises were far from unprecedented

In Sapiens, Rick W. A. Smith, assistant professor of anthropology, identifies imperialism at the root of pandemic disease and racial violence, now and historically.

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In STAT news, Andrew Peterson writes about the importance of memorializing the pandemic

The article, co-authored by Andrew Peterson, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, discusses the need for a memorial to recognize the heroes, challenges, and tragedy of the public health crisis of Covid-19.

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Well-Being Resources
Events & Deadlines

The 2021 Mastrofski Lecture featuring Professor Rod K. Brunson

Clock Icon for Thursday, March  4, 2021 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ESTThursday, March 4, 2021 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST

Map Icon for Online LocationOnline Location

Join us for the 2021 Mastrofski Lecture featuring Professor Rod K. Brunson for his talk on "Examining Racial Injustice in an Era of Over- and Under-Policing."

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Cultural Studies Colloquium: "A Deeper History of an Insurrection: When Past Meets Present on 1/6/21."

w/ Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston.

Clock Icon for Thursday, March  4, 2021  4:30 PM to  7:00 PM ESTThursday, March 4, 2021 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM EST

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Join us virtually for a talk by Gerald Horne trawling on his own published work in order to illuminate the hinge moment that was 1/6.

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Virtual Staff Appreciation Event

Clock Icon for Wednesday, March 10, 2021  1:30 PM to  3:00 PM ESTWednesday, March 10, 2021 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM EST

RSVP by March 9, 12:00 pm, to receive the Zoom link to this family-friendly, fun event for classified staff and student employees.

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Fellowships and Career Development Opportunities for the Humanities

CHSS Research Sponsor Talk

Clock Icon for Tuesday, March 23, 2021 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDTTuesday, March 23, 2021 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDT

Please join us to hear representatives from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences discuss various fellowships and career development opportunities as well as best practices for competing for these opportunities.

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Women’s History Month Kahoot Tournament

Clock Icon for Tuesday, March 23, 2021  4:00 PM to  5:00 PM EDTTuesday, March 23, 2021 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT

Map Icon for Zoom (Virtual Event)Zoom (Virtual Event)

Fellowships and Career Development Opportunities for the Social and Behavioral Sciences

CHSS Research Sponsor Talk

Clock Icon for Thursday, March 25, 2021 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDTThursday, March 25, 2021 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDT

Please join us to hear representatives from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Library of Congress's Kluge Center, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences discuss various fellowships and career development opportunities as well as best practices for competing for these opportunities.

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Combatting Raciolinguistic Discrimination in the Academy and Workplace

Clock Icon for Thursday, April  1, 2021 12:00 PM to  1:30 PM EDTThursday, April 1, 2021 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EDT

A panel discussion featuring scholars from modern and classical languages, writing studies, and industrial and organizational psychology sharing work about the intersections of racial and linguistic discrimination, particularly as these types of discrimination occur in educational and workplace contexts.

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NEH 2021 Fellowship Program

The National Endowment for the Humanities is now accepting applications for the 2021 Fellowships program. NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications are due April 14, 2021.

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