CHSS Digest

October 2, 2025

CHSS Digest October 2, 2025

Welcome to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences bi-weekly newsletter!

For the most up-to-date information, visit the CHSS website.

Have news to share? Send us your news via the submission form.

The next issue of CHSS Digest will be published on October 16. View the full CHSS Digest schedule

Center for Climate Change Communication celebrates history, embraces future

Mason 4C celebrated the leadership of founding director and Professor Emeritus Ed Maibach and looked ahead to the center's future under interim director John Kotcher at an event at the Fuse building on September 29.

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Announcements & Resources
Academic unit town hall with President Washington

Academic unit town hall with President Washington

President Washington will hold an academic unit town hall with faculty and staff from across the university on October 13 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. In-person attendance in the HUB Ballroom is encouraged.

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Nominations are open for the 2025 Mary Roper Award and CHSS Staff & A/P Faculty Recognition awards

Nominations are open for the 2025 Mary Roper Award and CHSS Staff & A/P Faculty Recognition awards

Nominations are now open for the 2025 CHSS Staff & A/P Faculty Recognition Awards, including the Mary Roper Award. Submit your nomination through a single, streamlined form by October 13 to help celebrate the outstanding contributions of your colleagues.

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CHSS Advisory Council nominations now open

CHSS Advisory Council nominations now open

Nominations for the 2025 CHSS Staff & A/P Faculty Advisory Council are open through October 24. Nominate yourself or a colleague and help shape the future of our community.

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Join us for the 2025 Community and Catalysts celebration

Join us for the 2025 Community and Catalysts celebration

Join us on November 8 as we honor and celebrate the achievements of our college's distinguished faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Community and Catalysts showcases the innovative nature of our faculty research and teaching, while also illustrating how CHSS stands ready to help all George Mason students create the changes that will make our communities a better place. Register now!

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2025 midcycle performance check-in

2025 midcycle performance check-in

George Mason’s 2025 midcycle check-in period is now open through November 11. This optional process is a chance to reflect on progress, celebrate accomplishments, and strengthen communication with your supervisor. Learn what to expect, review participation requirements, and join an upcoming Q&A session to prepare.

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Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity
Center for Community Mental Health partnership provides behavioral health training

Center for Community Mental Health partnership provides behavioral health training

Together with Claude Moore Opportunities and the ConnerStrong Foundation, CCMH hosted a training led by Sources of Strength—a nationally renowned, evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health program—for George Mason clinical psychology students. Program curriculum will be implemented in local schools across Virginia to improve mental health among youth populations.

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Martin Wiener awarded National Science Foundation grant

Martin Wiener awarded National Science Foundation grant

Martin Wiener, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, has received a multi-year award from the National Science Foundation. The project aims to explore how the brain processes time when looking at images, with important implications for understanding memory, learning, and visual perception.

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New research security training requirements

New research security training requirements

Effective October 10, all faculty who plan to submit grant proposals to the NSF must complete research security training modules before submitting a proposal. The Research Security Training is designed to raise awareness of, and protect against, external threats and risks to U.S.-funded research that supports research activities at George Mason.

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Federal shutdown guidance

Federal shutdown guidance

The Office of Sponsored Programs has developed a resource to support faculty with guidance as to how a government shutdown can impact university research.

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Call for participation: Survey on humanities-STEM collaborations addressing ecological challenges

Call for participation: Survey on humanities-STEM collaborations addressing ecological challenges

The National Humanities Alliance, in collaboration with the American Council of Learned Societies, and with funding from the National Science Foundation, is conducting a landscape survey of humanities-STEM research collaborations that address ecological challenges. CHSS faculty are encouraged to take a moment to complete this survey, which is estimated to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

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Folger Institute applications for Spring 2026 programs

Folger Institute applications for Spring 2026 programs

The Folger Institute in Washington, D.C., will offer several programs in spring 2026, including Early Modern Numeracy, directed by George Mason professor Jessica Otis. The application deadline for the spring 2026 programs is October 20.

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Faculty, Staff, Student & Alumni Recognition
CHSS alum helps suspend disbelief in Cirque du Soleil production

CHSS alum helps suspend disbelief in Cirque du Soleil production

Gracie Valdez, BA Art History '07, serves as the artistic director for the Cirque du Soleil production LUZIA, which is performing outside of Tysons Galleria through October 18.

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Events

AI Fundamentals for Humanists

Clock Icon for Tuesday, October  7, 2025 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDTTuesday, October 7, 2025 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDT

Map Icon for Merten Hall, 1202 and ZoomMerten Hall, 1202 and Zoom

Amarda Shehu and Alok Yadav will lead AI Fundamentals for Humanists, as part of the AI and the humanities workshop series 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.

Details

Fall for the Book festival 2025

Clock Icon for October  7, 2025,  2:15 PM to October 11, 2025,  1:00 PM EDTOctober 7, 2025, 2:15 PM to October 11, 2025, 1:00 PM EDT

Fall for the Book, Northern Virginia’s oldest and largest festival of literature and the arts, returns for its 27th annual celebration October 7–11.

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Fall Colloquium: Greg Grandin

Clock Icon for Thursday, October 16, 2025  4:30 PM EDTThursday, October 16, 2025 4:30 PM EDT

Map Icon for The event will be livestreamed by GMU-TVThe event will be livestreamed by GMU-TV

Greg Grandin (Yale, History), the Pulitzer Prize winning historian, will discuss his breakout new book, America, América, as part of the Cultural Studies Colloquium, co-sponsored by History and Art History.

Details

Amanda Madden (Assistant Professor), “Virile Women, Vexed Wives, and Violated Nuns: Crime and Space in Early Modern Venice and the Veneto”

CHR Residential Fellow Talk

Clock Icon for Wednesday, October 22, 2025 12:00 PM to  1:00 PM EDTWednesday, October 22, 2025 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT

Map Icon for Horizon Hall 6325 and zoomHorizon Hall 6325 and zoom

CHSS in the Media

Welcome to CHSS in the Media! Some articles may be behind a paywall. University Libraries provides direct access to current news sources. For more information, go to InfoGuides: Current News: Direct Subscriptions

Donald J. Boudreaux's, Department of Economics, book profiled in Forbes

Forbes says The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism dismantles myths that have clouded public discourse and policymaking for decades.

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Todd Kashdan, Department of Psychology, appears on Do Good to Lead Well podcast

Kashdan discusses the power of principled dissent and curiosity in leadership.

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