The Mason Spirit

It was at the 2012 Society for the Study of Southern Literature conference that Mason English professor Eric Gary Anderson and coeditors Taylor Haygood of Florida Atlantic University and Daniel Cross Turner at Coastal Carolina University started hatching the idea for the anthology Undead Souths: The Gothic and Beyond in Southern Literature and Culture (LSU Press, 2015).

Continue Reading The (Literary) South Does Rise Again

Renowned psychologist Todd Kashdan pushes students out of their comfort zones to spur growth in his Science of Well-Being class.

Continue Reading Class Invites Students to Make Themselves Uncomfortable

Mason history professor Alison Landsberg doesn’t see films and television as an escape. She believes they can be rich historical sources, offering a window onto the social, political, cultural, and economic landscapes of their historical moment. In her latest book, Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge (Columbia University Press, 2015), she looks at how these “texts” provoke historical thinking.

Continue Reading Engaging the Past: A Conversation with History Professor Alison Landsberg

The senior scientist at Mason’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being says our pursuit of happiness is actually making us unhappy,

Continue Reading The Pursuit of Happiness

Conservation biologist Elizabeth Freeman says the birth of panda cubs at Mason’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute demonstrates how improved captive breeding programs and species survival can be accomplished across the globe.

Continue Reading Conservation Work Improves Outcomes of Red Pandas

At the time of the publication of Mason professor Karina Korostelina’s book, Constructing the Narratives of Identity and Power: Self-Imagination in a Young Ukrainian Nation (Lexington Books, 2013), Ukraine had stepped to the forefront of the world’s news as the power struggle between the country, independent since the early 1990s, and Russia’s subsequent usurpation of Crimea grew violently hostile.

Continue Reading Identity and Power in Ukraine

When Mason anthropology professor Linda J. Seligmann and her husband adopted a baby girl from China in 2000, the reception they received triggered her professional, as well as personal, curiosity. The experience led to her latest book, Broken Links, Enduring Ties: American Adoption across Race, Class, and Nation (Stanford University Press, 2013), which focuses on families who have adopted children from China and Russia, and families who have adopted African American children transracially.

Continue Reading The Challenges of International Adoption

A new book provides reference points for couples to compare their relationship with others and to judge how “normal” they really are.

Continue Reading Finding the New Normal

Mason professors Fred Bemak and Rita Chi-Ying Chung began their careers on opposite sides of the globe, but their passion for human rights and social justice ultimately brought them together.

Continue Reading Mason Professors Work Together to Provide Mental Health Services around the Globe

If you drive behind the intramural fields on Mason’s Fairfax Campus, you may notice a fenced-in grassy area with numerous big black tubs planted with various kinds of wetland vegetation. The scientific experiments being done in this outdoor facility are the products of Mason ecological engineer Changwoo Ahn and his students.

Continue Reading Mason Wetland Laboratory Provides Resources for Important Watershed Research