Media educator · Researcher · Editor
Dr. Uma Shankar Pandey
Placing human understanding at the centre of communication.
His work brings Indian philosophy into communication theory and examines how people learn, judge and act in a world shaped by media and artificial intelligence.
Teacher-in-Charge · Associate Professor & Head
Department of Journalism & Mass Communication
Surendranath College for Women, affiliated to the University of Calcutta
since September 2002
on the Dr. USP channel
in the selected bibliography
with reference details
The educator and the researcher
A teacher’s questions.
A journalist’s eye.
How do people arrive at an understanding? What makes a claim credible? How can education strengthen the judgment needed to act on it?
These questions connect Dr. Pandey’s work in communication theory, journalism, research methods and AI literacy. He has taught at Surendranath College for Women since September 2002 and serves as its Teacher-in-Charge, alongside his role as Associate Professor and Head of Journalism and Mass Communication. He holds a Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Calcutta, where he also supervises doctoral research.
Before entering academia, he worked as a Senior Journalist with The Asian Age, Kolkata. That experience continues to inform his research on media credibility, journalistic role perceptions, news sources and public discourse. His teaching connects conceptual questions with the practical work of asking, investigating, analysing and explaining.
- Academic home
- Surendranath College for Women
University of Calcutta affiliation - Editorial responsibility
- Editor-in-Chief, Media Watch
SAGE Publications - Research supervision
- Journalism & Mass Communication
University of Calcutta - Working across
- Indian philosophy, media studies,
AI literacy and research methods
A central theoretical contribution
The Ubiquitous
Sphoṭa–Pratibhā Model
Developed by Dr. Pandey, the USP Model of consciousness centred communication places the person’s apprehension of meaning within the event that communication theory explains. It draws on Indian philosophical resources, especially Bhartṛhari’s accounts of sphoṭa and pratibhā, to connect a linguistic whole with the significance it acquires for someone.
The model follows what happens as understanding takes shape, finds expression, meets questions and returns to shared decisions or actions. This gives his work a clear focus: how meaning becomes available to people, and how it changes what they do.
Research agenda
Questions that move
between theory and practice.
His research connects philosophical inquiry with questions that can be examined in classrooms, newsrooms and digital environments.
Indian philosophy and communication
Developing consciousness centred communication through Indian accounts of language, knowledge and reflection. This work brings sphoṭa, pratibhā and Nyāya into contemporary debates about meaning, interpretation and human agency.
USP Model · Indian knowledge traditionsAI literacy and human judgment
The PAUSE research project, From Prompting to Discernment, examines metacognitive AI literacy in undergraduate education through a UGC–CEC/EMRC Kolkata research initiative. The focus is on helping learners examine AI responses, assess their grounds and retain responsibility for their judgments.
PAUSE · Metacognition · EducationDigital inclusion and media credibility
Examining how access, capability, trust and institutional conditions shape people’s participation in media. His research on digital divides, motivated skepticism and journalistic practices informs his engagement with the IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group.
Digital capability · Journalism · TrustMeasurement and research methods
Developing the USP Metacognitive Awareness Scale, or USP–MAS, to examine selected self-reported metacognitive tendencies. His wider methods work covers scale development, structural equation modelling, quantitative analysis, qualitative inquiry and data journalism.
USP–MAS · SEM · Scale developmentBooks, papers and perspectives
Writing across communication,
culture and public life.
His publications span communication theory, journalism, digital inequality, cinema, language and the ethical questions raised by mediated life.
Books and edited volumes
- Development Journalism: Issues, Challenges and Directions
- Perspectives on Mass Communication Theory
- Media, Democracy, Development
- Contemporary Issues in Mass Communication Theory
- Internationalisation of Bollywood: A Hundred-Year-Old Journey
This list includes authored books and edited or co-edited volumes. Full credits and bibliographic details appear on the publications page.
Recent contributions
2026 · Book chapter
The semiotics of communicationUnderstanding Communication · Springer
2026 · Editorial
The measure of nearness: Media and the ethics of proper distanceMedia Watch, 17(3) · SAGE
2025 · Journal article
Synthesizing Nyaya rhetoric and Sphota linguistic approachesWorld of Media: Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies
The selected catalogue includes articles, chapters, editorials, a versioned preprint, reviews and conference proceedings.
Educational videos on media, research and ideas that matter.
Learning beyond the classroom
Over 195 educational videos.
Open to every learner.
Through the Dr. USP YouTube channel, Dr. Pandey makes university-level ideas and research tools accessible to students, teachers and independent learners. His videos explain concepts, demonstrate methods and connect Indian knowledge traditions with contemporary questions.
He also conducts invited lectures, faculty development sessions and workshops for educators, researchers, journalists and communication professionals.
- Communication theory
- Research methods
- Indian Knowledge Systems
- AI in education
- Data journalism
- Statistics & analysis
Methods and tools used in teaching and research
Quantitative analysis: Jamovi, R and SPSS; scale development and structural equation modelling.
Qualitative and bibliometric research: ATLAS.ti and Biblioshiny; discourse analysis and research mapping.
Digital communication and production: WordPress, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Premiere.
Leadership and professional engagement
Connecting institutions,
research communities and learners.
Since
December 2025
Teacher-in-Charge
Surendranath College for Women, Kolkata, alongside his academic role in Journalism and Mass Communication.
College profileEditorial
leadership
Editor-in-Chief, Media Watch
Editorial responsibility for the SAGE journal, alongside contributions to international scholarly publishing.
Journal editorial board2025–2029
Co-Chair, IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group
Elected for the 2025–2029 term, contributing to international research on digital inequality and participation.
Working groupAcademic conversations and collaboration
Bring a question worth investigating.
For invited lectures, faculty development programmes, research workshops and academic collaborations in communication, Indian philosophy, AI literacy and research methods.