Background
He was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Mumford High School and Montieth College of Wayne State University.
He was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Mumford High School and Montieth College of Wayne State University.
Starr earned a Doctor of Philosophy in sociology from Brandeis University in 1970.
He taught 1969-1976 at the University of Pennsylvania, 1976-2002 at West Virginia University and 2004-2008 at the University of California at San Diego. Since 1980 he has lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Among his many 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."
Starr"s works have focused on two areas: One is peace and conflict resolution, organized in the 1980s under "The Lessons of the Vietnam War" program of the Center for Social Studies Education.
In the 1990s he founded Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, an effort to bring greater diversity to public television and media reform throughout the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio systems
Since 1984, Starr has been active in theatre as a board member, producer, actor, and playwright.