Upon the completion of his PhD, Stein was appointed to a teaching post at the University of Minnesota, where he stayed until the end of 1965.
He delved into the theory of tribal society and referred to the work of Aidan Southall, "The Illusion of Tribe".
[1] He published his first book, Peasant, State and Society in Medieval South India (1980) with the theme of segmentary lineage.
In retirement, Burt's writing productivity increased over time, with four more books written and a fifth, A History of India, published posthumously in 1998, after being left largely complete.
Stein was an active advisor on the project, which resulted in the publications of A Historical Atlas of South Asia, published by the University of Chicago Press in 1978.