Pasha Dashtgard Ph.D.
Director of Research, Polarization & Extremism Research Innovation Lab, American University
2025
Pasha Dashtgard is the Director of Research for the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). He has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the department of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine, and was formerly a postdoctoral Fellow at Loyola Marymount University’s Psychology Applied Research Center (PARC). He attended Columbia University, Teacher’s College for his MA in Mental Health Counseling and Ed.M in Education.
Dr. Dashtgard leads PERIL’s research and evaluation team, overseeing national testing of all prevention and intervention tools alongside primary research in the form of nationally-representative surveys, focus groups, and ethnography. Pasha’s research interests include masculinities, online radicalization, PTSD, and large-scale mental health policy/service delivery. Research projects include analysis using his Male Supremacy Scale (MSS) and its intersections with online behavior, PTSD in solitary confinement, and various projects intervening with populations beset by misinformation, conspiratorial thinking, and political polarization.
The Summit offers a unique opportunity to confront the corrosive influence of bigotry and hatred in our society. In order for us to address these challenges, we first must acknowledge their painful and destructive impact in our communities and in our country. I am grateful to serve as a Global Advisor to this timely and powerful initiative.
