About

Kevin Owen Starr

University Professor and Professor of History

Contact Information
E-mail: kstarr@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 821-2595
Office: SOS 175

 

Education
B.A. English, University of San Francisco, 1/1962
M.A. English and American Literature, Harvard University, 1/1965
Ph.D. English and American Literature, Harvard University, 1/1969
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
University Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1998-  
Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Southern California, 01/01/1989-01/01/1998  
Professor, Communication Arts, University of San Francisco, 01/01/1981-01/01/1989  
Visiting Scholar and Media Fellow, Hoover Institution, 01/01/1986-01/01/1988  
Visiting Fellow, Center for Humanistic Studies, Claremont McKenna College, 01/01/1987  
Visiting Professor of History, University of California, Davis, 01/01/1985-01/01/1986  
Lecturer on Librarianship, University of California, Berkeley, 01/01/1978  
Adjunct Professor of English, Santa Clara University, 01/01/1977-01/01/1978  
Regents' Lecturer in Political Science, University of California, Riverside, 01/01/1977  
Visiting Lecturer in Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, 01/01/1976  
Adjunct Professor of Humanities, San Francisco State University, 01/01/1975-01/01/1976  
Visiting Associate Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley, 01/01/1974  
Assistant Professor of American Literature, Harvard University, 01/01/1969-01/01/1973  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
State Librarian Emeritus, Starr researches California history, history of American culture, urban history and "Americans and the California Dream" captures the enigmatic blend of dreams and hardscrabble reality that defines California. To date, Starr's books uncover how the Golden State emerged from the Gold Rush, absorbed the shocks of the Great Depression, and was transformed by the sweeping events of World War II.
 

Honors and Awards
National Endowment for the Humanities Medalist, 2006  
USC Presidential Medallion, 2005  
USC Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, 1991  
Fellow (or Equivalent) of National Society in Discipline, Society of American Historians, 1986  
Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient, 1976-1977  
 
 
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