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Maria Valdovinos Olson was selected as a recipient of the 2021 CHSS Dean’s Challenge Scholarship Award. The Dean’s Challenge Scholarship Award was established in 2007 to acknowledge exceptional graduate students who have excelled while making academically-challenging choices.

“While they represent a small fraction of our 2021 graduating class, our PhD graduates are a signature element of CHSS’s contributions to Mason as an R1,” said CHSS Dean Ann Ardis. "“Please join me in a shout-out congratulations to our newest colleagues in the global community of scholars, our 2021 PhD graduates."

George Mason University’s Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) is committed to publicly engaged social science research that can promote social justice, inform equitable social policy, and foster university-community collaborations. Housed within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the CSSR builds on a long tradition of social science research for the public good. At its center are thematic research hubs focused on quantitative, qualitative, community-engaged research and program evaluation. During the virtual open house, we will introduce CSSR initiatives & projects, our research capabilities & newly formed research hubs, and engage dialogue for bridge building for university researchers and community organizations.

Jamie Clark discusses issues surrounding handling the remains of people from marginalized groups.

On Wednesday, April 21st, 2021, hundreds of leading policymakers, innovators, community organizers, and academics came together to take up the challenge of preparing our society for a transition to a system that provides the best outcomes for all. "The Next System and the Academy: Systemic Crises, Movements, and Change in the 2020s," featured keynote speaker U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (2nd CD, WI), Kali Akuno (Cooperation Jackson), Dr. Gar Alperovitz (Democracy Collaborative), Dr. Amy Best (George Mason University), Dr. Diane Fujino (UC Santa Barbara), Peter Knowlton (UE General President, retired), Dr. Ben Manski (George Mason University), and Mike Strode (U.S. Solidarity Economy Network).

"To borrow from Lev Tolstoy, ‘What then must society do?’ Or to paraphrase Gar Alperovitz, ‘system change is coming; what kind of system do we want and how do we get there?’ These are the questions at the center of next system studies.”