Centers and Institutes
CHSS Chartered Research Centers
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to be home to a number of active research centers. The centers serve to organize much of our research and scholarship around specific focal areas and help to foster collaborative research among faculty. College-chartered research centers are chartered or rechartered in accordance with university policy.
Peter Mandaville, Director (pmandavi@gmu.edu)
The AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies supports research, interdisciplinary academic programs, and community outreach. By providing educational and research opportunities for students, faculty, and visiting scholars, it is helping develop 21st century leaders with a sophisticated understanding of the complex dynamics that shape Muslim communities worldwide.
John Kotcher, Interim Director (jkotcher@gmu.edu)
The Center for Climate Change Communication aims to develop and apply social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change.
Christy Esposito-Smythers, Director (cesposi1@gmu.edu)
Newly chartered in the 2022-2023 year, The Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health, housed within the Department of Psychology, brings together faculty from multiple disciplines and community partners to meet the following aims: (1) to serve the training needs of our local behavioral health workforce and beyond, to prevent the debilitating costs of inadequately treated mental illness and the potential associated loss of life; and (2) to serve as a national leader for culturally responsive translational mental health treatment research that spans from "the lab" to the "community."
David Weisburd, Executive Director (dweisbur@gmu.edu)
Cynthia Lum, Director (clum@gmu.edu)
The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP), housed within the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, seeks to make scientific research a key component in decisions about crime and justice policies.
In collaboration with University Libraries
George Oberle, Director (goberle@gmu.edu)
The Center for Mason Legacies (CML) aims to preserve and examine the legacy of George Mason IV (1725-1792), his ancestors and heirs, and the people he enslaved.
Amy Best, Director (abest@gmu.edu)
The Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) is committed to conducting publicly engaged social research that can promote social justice and inform equitable social policy.
Daniel Houser, Director (dhouser@gmu.edu)
The Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES) (ICES) at George Mason University brings together researchers and students interested in using the methods of experimental economics to answer research questions from a variety of fields.
Lisa Gilman, Director (Lgilman3@gmu.edu)
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) is a multidisciplinary research institute at George Mason University that produces valid, reliable, and objective multidisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States and to disseminate this information through peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as in print and digital formats that make this research easily accessible to policy-makers, the media, the business community, and the general public.
Lincoln Mullen, Director (lmullen@gmu.edu)
The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) creates websites and open-source digital tools to preserve and present the past, transform scholarship across the humanities, advance history education and historical understanding, and encourage popular participation in the practice of history.
University Chartered Institutes and Centers
CHSS researchers are also actively involved in transdisciplinary university institutes and centers for advanced study.