February 6, 2004 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Harris School. Lecture Hall (142)
Presenter: Steven Tepper, Deputy Director, Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies
View Steven Tepper's paper: "Culture, Conflict and Community: Rituals of Protest or Flairs of Competition"
Tepper examines the incident of public conflict over artistic and cultural expression in 75 U.S. cities. His analysis of more than 500 cases of conflict reveals that levels of public dispute are related to several underlying structural characteristics of cities. In particular, rapid demographic shifts, especially changes in foreign-born residents, are related to higher levels of conflict. Tepper’s paper also suggests that there are at least three different profiles of conflict—there are highly contentious cities, where both liberal-based and conservative-based groups are actively involved in protests; there are cities that experience cultural conflict as identity politics (liberal-based groups are most active); and those cities that practice cultural regulation (conservative-based groups are most active).
ABOUT STEVEN J. TEPPER: Steven J. Tepper is 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. He has published articles in the areas of the sociology of art, cultural policy and democracy and public space and is currently completing a book on cultural conflict in 75 American cities. He has also examined the role of the meeting and convening as instruments of policy making, especially in the field of art and culture. Tepper received his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before coming to Princeton, Tepper served for five years as the executive director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Bicentennial Observance and is author of The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance (UNC, 1998). In addition, he has served as a consultant to numerous cultural institutions including the National Humanities Center, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Canadian Confederation Center for the Arts, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and various foundations.