Join your colleagues for a coffee hour in the Horizon Hall 6th floor kitchen for refreshments and socializing to welcome in the new academic year!

Please join Dean Ardis in welcoming Provost Antony for a reception with CHSS faculty and staff on September 30 from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m.

When Liang Luo steps into a classroom—or works on a film, for that matter—she brings with her a rare blend of scholarship, creativity, and cultural sensitivity. This fall, Luo begins her role as chair of George Mason University’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages, a position that recognizes her academic leadership as well as her global perspective. 

A capacity audience of students, faculty, staff, and community members attended former U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith's talk “Democracy, Integrity, and the Rule of Law” on Tuesday, September 16 at the Harris Theatre. The annual Wilkins Lecture is cosponsored by the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program and the Schar School of Policy and Government.

The state-of-the-art building will house labs and initiatives to foster cross-discipline research, innovation programming, partnership, and community engagement for George Mason students, researchers, and commercial partners.  

The year-long series seeks to foster cross-disciplinary AI literacy, explore how AI shapes and is shaped by culture, ethics, history, and society, and provide opportunities for research incubation and exchange.

The American Psychological Foundation has launched the Direct Action Crisis Funding program to provide up to five grants of up to $20,000 to early career psychological researchers who have lost federal funding. This new initiative aims to support researchers with immediate needs, such as completing data collection or preparing new grant proposals, after their grants were terminated by agencies such as the NSF or NIH.

Study leaves for tenured instructional faculty, funded by the provost, provide paid leave during one semester or academic year to support scholarly research, teaching, and/or creative activity. Applications for study leave for the 2026–2027 academic year must be submitted by October 10 at 5 p.m.

Study leaves for term instructional faculty support professional development initiatives designed to advance scholarly research, teaching, and/or creative activity, including the development of innovative teaching approaches and methods. Applications for the 2026–2027 academic year must be submitted by October 10 at 5 p.m.

The next installment of the Headlines webinar series is September 23 from 2 to 3 p.m. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) team will provide updates on recent policy and funding developments impacting the social and behavioral science community, discuss Congress’ plans for averting a government shutdown, and analyze the latest actions taken by the Trump Administration.

The MLA will host a free webinar, “Supporting Faculty Research in Difficult Times,” on September 29 from 2 to 3 p.m. The webinar will feature a panel of experts that will answer questions about identifying external and internal funding sources, working with libraries, leveraging institutional support, and more.

Fall 2025 is a great time for graduate students to showcase their research in the 2025 Research Poster Competition! Faculty, encourage students to apply by October 10 to compete on November 7.

The Three Minute Thesis is a global research communication competition in which doctoral candidates present their research in person to a general audience in three minutes, using only one visual aid, for a chance to win prizes! Submit your application by September 26.

Schrum will provide leadership for graduate academic affairs, working closely with faculty and staff across all colleges to strengthen graduate programs, support student success, and advance George Mason’s standing as a leader in graduate education.

George Mwangi has been named a CHSS Faculty Fellow and will serve as the School of Integrative Studies' director of graduate programs.

Welcome to our monthly compilation of good news, gathered from CHSS faculty and staff!

Shutika talks about her research on Irish farming and how it has changed over the last half century.

Klaus speaks about his craft of building model airplanes and how he incorporates history into his hobby.

Professor quoted and analysis of past deportation efforts referenced in article on how decline in foreign-born labor force has not improved the fortunes of U.S.-born workers.

Turner's book on Joseph Smith referenced in look at how Mormon Church leader changed Christianity.

Cowen addresses questions about the economy and presents an overview of where we are in the simplest possible terms.