On August 29, members of the CHSS community welcomed in graduate students at the annual Gradstravaganza Picnic. Hosted by Graduate Student Life and University Life students connected with staff from the college's graduate office and other academic units, while learning about campus resources and graduate student organizations.

On September 1, CHSS welcomed George Mason’s new provost, Marion Underwood, for a visit showcasing the college’s research and campus community.

CHSS welcomed a new group of faculty colleagues at its 2026 New Faculty Orientation, bringing together scholars from across the college for a morning of conversation, connection, and introduction to the people and resources of CHSS.

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!

President Washington will hold an academic unit town hall with faculty and staff from across the university on September 17 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Johnson Center Cinema.

Join us at the town hall on September 29 to review results from the recent Faculty Staff Engagement Survey and participate in a Q&A discussion.

Do you find yourself at the end of the semester wondering where time went and feeling like you were not able to accomplish what you needed? Are you looking forward to a productive semester? You are invited to an interactive virtual workshop on September 11 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to help you align your time with your career goals for this academic year. Register in advance.

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, and more! We'd love to hear from every department and program.

The inaugural Grand Challenge Exchange Day will be held on September 15 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Hub Ballroom. This gathering will highlight the seven selected catalyst projects advancing George Mason University’s Grand Challenge Initiative, a university‑wide effort to accelerate research and innovation with broad societal impact. Registration is required.

CHSS Pre-Award invites faculty interested in applying for Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) funding to join us in early October for an in-person networking and application workshop.

The Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact is inviting applications to participate in a two-day interactive workshop on October 22–23. The "Research-to-Impacts Workshop," will focus on building the partnerships needed to translate Grand Challenge research into real-world impact. Space is limited. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on September 16 for consideration.

Deadlines for two 2027–28 humanities fellowship opportunities are approaching! The 2027–28 Cullman Center Fellowship in New York is due September 25 and the National Humanities Center (NHC) 2027–28 Residential Fellowship Program is due October 1. Any faculty interested in applying for these fellowships should submit a CHSS Pre-Award Request for Assistance Form (PRA Form).

Study leave for tenured instructional faculty, funded by the provost, provides paid leave during one semester or academic year to support scholarly research, teaching, and/or creative activity during the faculty study leave. Applications for study leave for the 2027–28 academic year must be submitted by 5 p.m. on October 9.

"Whiteness as Property: Reflections and Retrospectives" is a hybrid (virtual and in-person) seminar and series of events hosted by the Race and Regency Lab in October at Amherst College. The Harris Seminar and Dialogues are co-sponsored by Amherst College, the British Association for Romantic Studies, the National Humanities Center, the Folger Institute, and Boston University’s Department of American Studies.

Last year, Fall for the Book’s annual Writers in the School series reached nearly 1,200 K-12 students in the Fairfax County Public Schools. The program, organized by the George Mason University-based festival, is designed to introduce students to authors and encourage interest in reading and writing.

Sergei Samoilenko, associate professor in the Department of Communication, and the Lab for Character Assassination and Reputation Protection (CARP) are working to better understand how digital disruption and manipulation practices shape public perception.

Leah Adams, an associate professor of clinical psychology and a clinical rehabilitation psychologist, is helping research early psychosocial adaptation in survivors of violently acquired spinal cord injuries to determine what and when interventions are most beneficial.

English associate professor Elizabeth Martelli, PhD Writing and Rhetoric ‘19, is training as an amateur boxer and will compete in a boxing match this fall to raise money in support of cancer research and awareness with Haymakers for Hope.

A few days after completing his last season of college basketball at George Mason University, Gabe Norwood, BA Communication ’07, began a hoop odyssey that would take him to nearly 30 countries and make him a national basketball hero in a country thousands of miles from Virginia.

Hannah Dabney, BA Environmental and Sustainability Studies ’23, recently lived in Samoa where she served as a Peace Corps Ridge to Reef Resilience Promoter Volunteer, helping communities balance environmental protection with local development needs.

Co-authored research by Adam Winsler and PhD student Victoria Rabii found public school pre-kindergarten helps children do well academically in third grade.

Auld and Gao discuss practical, research-informed strategies for building authentic connections with students across modalities—from asynchronous online courses to face-to-face composition classroom.

Kotcher, director of George Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication, said candidates' positions on ongoing offshore wind projects, coastal mining and flooding concerns could influence the district’s voters.

O'Malley discusses the history of clocks, daylight saving time, and time zones.