• Dr. Richard Pitt is Assistant Dean of the Graduate School and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  He directs Vanderbilt’s Office to Enhance Diversity in Graduate Education, from which he coordinates the identification, recruitment, and retention of talented Ph.D. students from underrepresented groups.  As a sociologist, his research interests lie in three principal areas: education, gender and sexuality, and sociology of religion. Other interests are in the subfields of race & ethnic relations and social psychology.  His work, generally, explores the effects of social structure on individual attitudes, behaviors, and psychological well-being.  An award-winning teacher, Dr. Pitt coauthored Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority in American Schools and has published articles on men's gender role ideology and religious-sexual identity conflicts.  He has worked at both the Educational Testing Service and Arizona’s Graduate School, where he became particularly interested in how issues of diversity shape the admissions process in higher education.  Dr. Pitt holds a M.Ed in Counselor Education from Penn State University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Arizona.

• Dr. Steven Tepper is Associate Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Previously, he served as the deputy director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies and lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Sociology.  Dr. Tepper is currently working on a book which assesses 900 cases of struggles over art, education, and culture in 75 American cities during the 1990’s. He has published articles on the sociology of art, cultural policy, and democracy in journals such as Review of Policy Research, Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society, and International Journal of Cultural Policy.  Additionally, he has served as a consultant to numerous institutions including the National Humanities Center, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and many foundations.  Dr. Tepper holds a M.P.P in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University.

Graduate Research Associates/Assistants

• Tessa Bishop, MA is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.  She holds a BA degree from St. John's College (NM) and a MA degree from the University of Chicago.  Her research interests are in gender and sexuality, social psychology, and mental health.

• Katherine Everhart, MA is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.  She holds a BA degree from UNC-Asheville and a MA degree from UNC-Charlotte.  Her research interests are in gender and sexuality, and culture.

• Whitney Laster is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.  She holds a BA degree from Grand Valley State University (MI).  Her research interests are in race and ethnicity, sociology of education, and stratification.

• Jingjing Song is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.  She holds a BA degree from Peking University.  Her research interests are in gender and sexuality, and culture.