Masoud Movahed

Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Masoud Movahed conducts research at the intersection of social stratification, economic sociology, and political sociology using advanced computational and quantitative methodologies.

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison
• M.A., New York University
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania

His research program integrates spatial econometrics, machine learning (including unsupervised clustering and supervised algorithms), and comparative-historical methods like event structure analysis to investigate income/wealth inequality across national contexts and within the United States. Recent work examines neighborhood dynamics related to gun violence, intergenerational mobility through racial-spatial lenses, and the relationship between political power structures and economic inequality.

Publications appear in leading journals including Social Science Research, Journal of Industrial Relations, and Spatial Demography, with additional commentary featured in Foreign Affairs, World Economic Forum, and Al Jazeera. His methodological approach consistently bridges computational rigor with sociological theory.

Scientific Awards:

• Mathematical Sociology section award, American Sociological Association
• Political Economy of the World-System Section award, American Sociological Association
• Sociology of Development section award, American Sociological Association
• Sabina Avdagic Early Career Scholar Prize, Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics

Dr. Movahed teaches advanced statistics courses including Social Statistics and Capstone in Data Analysis, while directing collaborative projects involving survey experiments and computational text analysis. His research program examines institutional determinants of inequality through both U.S.-focused and cross-national comparative frameworks.