William Graves

Professor Graves came to Bryant University from Brown University in 1989. At Bryant, he served both as Coordinator for Modern Languages and Coordinator for International Studies in the 1990s. As a faculty member in the English and Cultural Studies Department, he teaches one of the Global Studies foundation courses, as well as courses in the general field of linguistic anthropology.

An anthropologist and linguist, Dr. Graves has conducted ethnographic research in American Indian communities in the Southwest, in institutions undergoing rapid technological change in the US, post-soviet Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and China. His current research focuses on language, identity and globalization in post-soviet countries. In the coming year, he plans to work with faculty and students in Russia on a Fulbright-funded collaborative project to examine changing language practices and changing conceptions of the relationship between language and culture in urban Russia today.
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Prof. Graves likes to think of himself as a global citizen. He has lived and worked in several different countries and is highly proficient in Russian and in Mandarin Chinese.   

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Title
Associate Professor of Humanities
Office
Suite F

Languages
English, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese
Courses
Introduction to Global Anthropology

Research Area
Russia
​Post-Soviet/Socialist Transition
​Education
University of Maryland 
Indiana University

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Zi Yuan Street Wholesale Market
in Suifenhe, Heiliongjiang Province, China.
Since the mid-1980s, the “Zi Yuan Street” Wholesale Market in Suifenhe on the Chinese-Russian border has been an important node in a dynamic, long-range trading network of small consumer goods that connects the many factories and workshops of eastern and southeastern China with the markets of Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

The main sign over the entrance is in Russian, for its primary clients are the many tourists, “shuttle” traders and merchants from Russia looking for “deals” on inexpensive consumer goods made in China.

Contact:

If you have any questions about Global Studies or Dr. Graves's research, feel free to contact him through email or attend office hours.
T/TH: 12:30-1:30 and 3:30-5