Arun’s research is about what happens when two social groups meet, and about the conditions under which such meetings escalate into conflict or exacerbate existing inequalities. To study these processes, Arun draws on a broad range of data sources and computational methods. In particular, he is interested in how social scientists can leverage digital trace data and powerful computational tools to study otherwise hidden dynamics of discrimination and inequality within society. More generally, Arun seeks to bridge the gap between the computer and social sciences and advances the role of computational social science in sociological research.

Arun received his PhD in Sociology at the University of Oxford in 2021. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Social Forces, European Sociological Review, PLOS ONE, and Socius, and covered by The New York Times, The BBC, and The Economist, among others.