Statement from the Dean
Learning from the past, understanding the present, and devising paths to progress and peace
Vartan Gregorian, an immigrant to this country from Armenia in the 1950s and a first-generation college graduate whose career encompassed truly extraordinary contributions as a scholar, university president, champion of public libraries, and president of the Carnegie Corporation, describes education in the humanities and social sciences as “a way for this country to learn from the past, understand the present, and devise paths to progress and peace."
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at George Mason University upholds this forward-thinking approach to a 21st-century liberal arts education through its commitment to the provision of broad and integrative learning opportunities for our students and through our Inclusive Excellence (IE) plan, which guides our efforts to continually refine our organizational practices to ensure that our college is a welcoming and supportive space for all.
Inclusive excellence is a foundational core value for CHSS, and requires active, thoughtful, and committed engagement. By fostering work environments as well as learning environments in which all of our interactions are infused with respect, civility, and an appreciation for cultural diversity, we ensure that every member of our community feels safe, heard, valued, truly welcome, and empowered to contribute to our most fundamental objective: student success.
Please join me in supporting CHSS’s core values as we contribute to Mason’s mission as an “All Together Different,” access-oriented public research university.
Warm regards,
Ann Ardis
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
