The Mason Spirit

Researchers at Mason’s Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics unveiled a first-of-its-kind patient-specific blood flow simulation system that uses software components developed at Mason. The cutting-edge technology has the potential to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain aneurysms—saclike bulges in the blood vessels—which affect millions of Americans each year. A multidisciplinary team comprising Mason computational…

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In a recent study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Adam Winsler, professor of psychology at Mason, showed that five-year-olds do better on motor tasks when they talk to themselves out loud either spontaneously or when told to do so by an adult. The study also showed that children with behavioral problems, such as attention…

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Despite federal legislation, pregnant women may still face judgment and obstacles to getting jobs. Such were the findings of  two studies by Mason’s Eden King, Rice University’s Michelle Hebl, and their collaborators. The research results, which explored different interpersonal reactions that pregnant women face, were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. In one study,…

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Jack White, JD ’86, brushes some silt off the oysters he’s just plucked from the garden floating off his dock on Dyers Creek in Mathews County, Virginia. “Look at this one,” he enthuses. “There’s a strike on it.” He is referring to a tiny young oyster that has attached itself to the larger one as…

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Mason English professor Robert Matz recently published a book on Shakespeare’s sonnets, The World of Shakespeare’s Sonnets: An Introduction (McFarland, December 2007). Matz, the new English Department chair, teaches courses on Shakespeare and other Renaissance literature. What is compelling about sonnets for you? The sonnets bring together a lot of my research interests: the relationship…

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James P. Pfiffner, University Professor, School of Public Policy In Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution (Brookings Institution, June 2008), Pfiffner analyzes the history of individual rights and legislative authority in the Anglo/American tradition and examines the Bush administration’s efforts to expand executive power and how citizens could be affected by the constitutional…

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John N. Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies In Faith Politics in Nigeria: Nigeria as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World (United States Institute of Peace Press, April 2008), Paden examines whether Nigeria’s influence extends beyond its region. He contends that Nigeria is globally significant and argues that the country, with a population that…

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Zoltan Acs, University Professor, School of Public Policy Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Public Policy (Edward Elgar Publishing, May 2008) synthesizes Acs’s key contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This selection of papers represents three decades of research that have contributed to understanding the evolution from managerial capitalism to an entrepreneurial society. Working at the inter-section of…

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Peter Stearns, Provost From Alienation to Addiction: Modern American Work in Global Historical Perspective (Paradigm Publishers, September 2008) examines how work changes as societies industrialize and looks at ways modern American work has differed from work responses elsewhere. Featuring major changes over the past two centuries along with comparative issues, the book presents different kinds…

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Paul Ammann, Associate Professor, and Jeff Offutt, Professor, Department of Computer Science Introduction to Software Testing (Cambridge University Press, January 2008) applies well-defined, general-purpose techniques to testing modern software. The book presents in detail topics that are often difficult to master, such as graph coverage, logic coverage, and syntax-based testing. By narrowing down multiple testing…

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