Contact Information
Department of Political Science, 9420
The University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9420
Email: narayanilasala@polsci.ucsb.edu
Phone: (917) 780-0677
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science.
University of California, Santa Barbara, Summer 2015 to the present.
Research Associate of the Broom Center for Demography. University of California, Santa Barbara. March 2017.
Research Associate, Harvard University, Fall 2014
Harvard Research Opinion Program, Harvard School of Public Health.
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, Spring 2014
Department of Political Science.
Adjunct Instructor, New York University, Fall 2013
Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development.
Survey Director & Project Manager, New York City Poverty Tracker Columbia University School of Social Work. June 2012-Februay 2013
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, Columbia University, 2014.
Dissertation Title: God Made the Country and Man Made the Town: The Impact of Local Institutions on the Integration of Immigrants in the United States.
Examining Committee: Robert Y Shapiro (Main Advisor), Alfred Stepan, Ira Katznelson, Fredrick Harris and Rodolfo de la Garza.
M.Phil. , Political Science, Columbia University, 2012.
M.A. , Political Science, Columbia University, 2008.
B.A. , International Relations, El Colegio de Mexico, 2003.
Fields
American Politics, Latino Politics, Immigration, Urban Politics, Research Methods, Public Opinion, Political Behavior, Race and Ethnicity American Politics.
Publications
Book Project
& Working Papers
“Turnout and weather disruptions: Survey evidence from the 2012 presidential elections in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy” (with Robert Y Shapiro and Viviana Burgos), Electoral Studies, February 2017.
Poor weather doesn’t dissuade voting in noncompetitive elections – not even Hurricane Sandy did in 2012. (with Robert Y Shapiro and Viviana Burgos).USAPP Blog LSE US Centre. March 2017.
“Ebola in the United States — Public Reactions and Implications”(with Gillian SteelFisher and Robert Blendon), New England Journal of Medicine, August 2015
“Threats to Polio Eradication: A Polling Study of Caregivers in Higher Conflict Areas in Pakistan and Nigeria” (with Gillian SteelFisher et.al.), The Lancet Infectious Diseases, July 2015.
“One Vote or Many Mexicos? Income, Heterogeneity, and the 2006–2012 Presidential Elections” (with Jeronimo Cortina), Social Science Quarterly. November 2015.
Income, Hardship and Health in NYC (with Irwin Garfinkel, Julien Teitler, Jane Walfogel & Christopher Wimer), Columbia Poplulaton Research Center and RobinHood Foundation Inaugural Report. Spring 2014.
Summary Report Policy Dialogue Task Force Meeting on Migration. With Mathew Winters. 2009.
“God Made the Country and Man Made the Town. The Role of American Institutions and Local Political Contexts in Shaping Immigrants Civic Engagement”. Book Project.
“Immigrant and Minority “Nones”: Politically Isolated or Engaged in Politics? (with David L. Leal, UT Austin).
“Any Way Out? Public Opinion, Partisan Conflict and Demographic Change” (with Robert Shapiro, Columbia University; Joy Wilke, UCLA; Shannon Schumacher, UCSB).
“Does Political Socialization Explain Differences in Political Participation? Why Latinos and Asians Vote Less Than Blacks and Whites.”
Research Projects
Syrian Refugee Panel Study and the European Cities and Neighborhoods Survey. (Principal Investigator). Funded by NSF RAPID, UCSB Senate and ISBER Grants and Oxford University Skoll Centre, 2016-2019
Collaborative Multi-Racial Post-Election Survey. I was one of 86 researchers from 55 colleges and universities contributed questions.
American Cities Survey (Principal Investigator). An in-person survey with representative samples of native and foreign born blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in seven American citiesand two Native American Reservations (N=2,300).
UNICEF-Harvard Public Opinion Research Project Polling Collaboration (with Robert Blendon and Gillian SteelFisher), multi-year multi-country studies targeting hard-to-reach population in Afghanistan, Pakistan, DRC, Nigeria, India and Somalia. Field Supervisor, Sampling and Research Design support in DRC, India and Afganistan. June 2014-May 2015
Robin Hood Foundation New York Poverty Tracker (with Irwin Garfinkel, Jane Waldfogel and Julien Teitler). Field Director and Project Manager 2012-2013
Grants, Awards & Fellowships
NSF RAPID Grant (Principal Investigator, awarded 124,000). Panel study of Syrian Refugees in Europe, 2017-2019.
University of California Senate Grant (Principal Investigator, awarded $12,500), Summer 2016.
University of California Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research Grant (Principal Investigator, awarded $17,000). 2016 and 2017.
University of Oxford Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship Grant, (Co-Principal Investigator, awarded $18,000), Summer 2016.
California Department of Water Resources, Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant. (Co- Investigator, PI Casey Walshawarded $150,000). 2017-2018.
IRAAS, Research Grant, Columbia University, 2012-2013.
Dean’s Office Diversity Documentary Grant, Columbia University, 2012.
Applied Statistics Center/Center for the Study of Developing Societies Summer, Research Grant, Columbia University, Summer 2010.
Initiative For Policy Dialogue Summer Research Grant, Columbia University, 2007.
Fellow and Research Associate of the Broom Center for Demography. University of California, Santa Barbara. 2017-present.
Columbia Population Research Center Fellow. 2013-2015.
Merit Scholarship Award, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, 2011-2012.
IGERT Fellow (Globalization and Development program at Columbia University) led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. 2007-2010.
Teaching Fellow at the Workshop on Poverty, Development and Globalization, Manchester University, Summer 2009.
Faculty Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, 2006 – 2011.
Ford Foundation and William Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellowship, 2005-2007
National Award for Best Undergraduate Thesis for “The US-Mexico NAFTA Negotiations: the Social, Political and Economic Consequences of the Agricultural Agreement” Mexican Association of Rural Studies, 2003.
Teaching
Diversity
Non- Academic Appointments
Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, UCSB, 2016-2017.
Challenges in Public Opinion Polling, Latino Politics. UCSB, 2016.
Immigration, Religion and Democracy (Graduate Seminar), UCSB, 2016.
Public Opinion and Political Behavior, (Graduate Seminar), UCSB, 2017.
Race, Ethnicity and Immigration in American Politics. Columbia University, 2014.
Comparative Studies of Education: Quantitative Analysis. NYU. Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development, 2013.
TA -Quantitative Methods for Political Science, Columbia University, Fall 2007-2013.
TA- Analysis of Political Data and Applied Econometrics, Columbia University, Spring 2008-2014.
TA- Introduction to American Politics, Columbia University, Fall 2006.
Faculty Mentor for The University of California's Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees (UC LEADS), 2016-2017.
Faculty Mentor, DACA Dream Scholars, UCSB, 2015-2017.
Faculty Mentor, McNair Scholars, UCSB, 2016-2017.
Graduate Student Mentor of the Leadership Alliance Early Identification Program, 2010-2013.
Researcher Los Angeles Times, Mexico City Bureau, 2005.
Political Liaison & Coordinator for the Program for the Mexican Communities Abroad of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San Francisco, CA, 2002- 2004.
Head of the Press and Trade Office of the General Consulate of Mexico in San Francisco, CA, January 2001- July 2002