Mission
The Pahl Center for the Study of Critical Social Issues was established in 2023 to advance rigorous, publicly engaged social science research that addresses the most pressing challenges facing society. The Pahl Center supports projects that combine data-driven analysis with a commitment to helping develop solutions that matter beyond the walls of academia. Our mission is to amplify the impact of social science scholarship by connecting faculty and student research to urgent real-world debates with broadly accessible findings.
Central to this mission is a commitment to supporting community-engaged research, where scholars work in partnership with communities most affected by the issues under study. By also prioritizing collaboration and mutual learning, The Pahl Center seeks not only to produce new knowledge but also to support work that can make a tangible difference in people’s and communities’ lives. The Pahl Center also promotes dialogue and intellectual community across the Division of Social Sciences and beyond. Through events, workshops, and collaborative projects, The Pahl Center works to strengthen UCSB’s role as a national leader in advancing critical, publicly engaged social science.
The Pahl Center for the Study of Critical Social Issues:
Choice of a high-stakes social issues, which require rigorous research to engage
Data-driven solutions, not assumed ahead of time, emerging from the research analysis
Publicly facing research, influential among diverse audiences beyond the walls of academia
Student involvement in the research process, emphasizing experience-based learning.
Leadership
Shaunak Sastry
Director of The Pahl Center,
Professor of Communication
Dr. Shaunak Sastry is Professor of Communication and Inaugural Director of the Pahl Center for the Study of Critical Social Issues at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Sastry is the First Vice-President of the National Communication Association. His award-winning global health communication research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Waterhouse Family Institute, and the Center for Clinical & Translational Science and Training. His areas of research interests include pandemic governance, health impacts of climate change, and community-engaged health research. Sastry currently serves as Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core of the Cincinnati Center for Collaboration on Climate and Community for Health (C4H), which is an NIH-funded P20 research center dedicated to studying the interactions between extreme weather, climate change, and health. He has previously served as Senior Editor of the journal Health Communication, and sits on the editorial boards of several top-ranked journals in Communication. Prior to joining the UCSB faculty in January 2026, Dr. Sastry was Professor of Communication and Provost’s Fellow for Community Engagement at the University of Cincinnati, and the winner of the 2025-2026 Faculty Excellence Award in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
Read More about Professor Sastry's Work