Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute, University of Oxford and at the Deliberative Media Lab (part of the Democracy Initiative) at the University of Virginia. I hold a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Essex.

My research consists of three interlinked pathways. Together, they explore themes and scholarship on political behavior, ethnicity – particularly caste, political communication, and South Asian politics.

The first track studies the causal effects of Misinformation on intergroup relations and political behavior in diverse societies. It investigates the implications of ‘fake news’ (spread via Whatsapp and related social media) on ethnic relations, political behavior, and public policy choices in India. The work is funded by Meta, grants from the University of Virginia’s Democracy Initiative and the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation.  Some of the media reports on the award can be found here (1, 2, 3, 4).

The second path, funded by grants from the University of Virginia, studies how social capital, evidenced by residential segregation along ethnic and racal lines informs belief in misinformation, which, in turn, influences political behavior and attitudes towards identity outgroups.

The third lane, endowed by the International Growth Centre (UK) and the National Science Foundation (US), studies determinants and mechanisms behind women’s political representation as well as pro-social and pro-developmental behavioral change in South Asia.

I am interested in mentoring graduate students whose research interests are broadly in the domains of comparative political behavior, social media, ethnicity, and South Asian Politics.