Faculty and staff are reminded to RSVP and take part in the investiture of Mason's eighth president, President Gregory Washington. The event takes place on Thursday, October 21, and this week offers a host of events celebrating this exciting time.

Backed by a statewide initiative, 4-VA@Mason has awarded 11 grants to Mason faculty for the 2021-2022 academic year, providing seed funding to launch innovations in education and original research. Cher Wexia Chen and Mills Kelly were awarded for new 4-VA@Mason research projects, and Kelly Schrum and E. Shelley Reid received funding for continuation and expansion of their 4-VA@Mason projects.

The Stearns Center's Thank-a-Teacher program has delivered a clear message to CHSS faculty.

Mason's Center for Humanities Research has issued a call for papers for its first interdisciplinary symposium, "Pasts/Presents/Futures," seeking proposals from faculty and advanced PhD candidates. The symposium takes place April 7-8; proposals are due December 1.

Complete your 2021 IT Security Awareness Training by Monday, November 15, by logging in to your MasonLEAPS account. New this year: you may opt out by passing a knowledge pre-check quiz. (Photo by FLY:D on Unsplash)

Mason's Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, working with the Nonprofit Finance Fund, developed a proposal for establishing a new, resilient funding platform. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Mason a grant of $1 million in change capital to support the center's business model development.

The Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University is serving as the institutional host for the Public Philosophy Network’s 6th Conference. The conference will feature three exciting plenary sessions, which explore the themes of climate and the environment, science and technology for the public good, and bioethics and public philosophy. Each plenary is free and open to the public.

On October 7, 2021, Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education - International Foreign Language Education (IFLE) representatives gave a presentation to familiarize attendees with the faculty-centered grant opportunities offered by IFLE.

Each edition of the CHSS Digest features some upcoming funding opportunities. In this issue: NEH Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations, NIJ W.E.B. Du Bois Program of Research on Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System; NSF Social Psychology, and NSF Linguistics.

In Bloomberg, the Washington Post, and other outlets, economics professor Tyler Cowen offers an opinion piece on the impact of higher energy prices on a move away from fossil fuels

Broadway World reports on Embracing Arlington Arts, a program that includes a podcast featuring Associate psychology Professor Thalia Goldstein, Research Associate Professor Niyati Dhokai (CVPA) and Professor Jatin Ambegaonkar (CEHD) discussing the health benefits of the arts.

In Yahoo News, Alex Tabarrok, economics professor and director of the Center for Study of Public Choice, discusses the promise of Molnupiravir, a Merck Pharmaceutical treatment for COVID-19, to turn the tide on the pandemic.

In NBC News, Young A Jung, assistant professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, commented on the traditional Korean children’s games at the heart of Netflix show Squid Game.

In an article on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Garrett Jones, associate economics professor, notes that Powell's academic background in politics and law helps him maintain his independence in economic issues.