Education and Teaching
Since 2004, Starr has been Visiting Professor of Communication, University of California at San Diego (winter terms). He also is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, West Virginia University, (1976-2002). Starr has served on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania (1969-76) and the University of Hawaii (1980). He received his Ph.D. in Sociology at Brandeis University (1970), where he was an NIMH Fellow.
Producer/Community Organizer
Starr is the Founder and Director of the Center for Social Studies Education. He also is an elected member of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee. Starr is former Executive Director of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting and Pittsburgh Educational Television, and founder and past-President of the Association for Humanist Sociology.
During his career, Starr has raised about $1.5 million from major foundations.
Awards
Starr has been a Fulbright Scholar, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and recipient of the Alfred McClung Lee Award from Sociological Abstracts for “Distinguished Career as a Humanist Sociologist.” Other awards include: Social Justice Achievement Award, Thomas Merton Center for Peace & Justice; Commendation for Public Service, the Giraffe Project; and Veterans for Peace Medal in Educational Achievement for his curriculum program, The Lessons of the Vietnam War.
Publications
Starr is the author of dozens of publications in major journals and six books, the latest of which are The Arts in Social Change (CSSE, 2008) and Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting (Beacon Press, 2000; Temple University Press, 2001). Starr’s play, Buried: The Sago Mine Disaster, has been produced at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Compass Theatre San Diego, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Starr’s writings have appeared in The Nation, The American Prospect, In These Times, USA Today Magazine, and other popular journals of opinion. He has appeared on scores of TV and radio programs across the nation, including CBS Morning News and CBS News Nightwatch (Charlie Rose) and been interviewed for and featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including Time, The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today.