Dr. Harlan Joel Gradin

Harlan Gradin earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Raised in Flushing, New York, he completed his higher education in North Carolina, first at Duke University, where he received an A.B. awarded magna cum laude with distinction in U.S. History, and then at UNC Chapel Hill, where he earned an M.A., also in U.S. History. Gradin’s academic interests include anthropology, sociology, literary theory, cultural and political theory. He is particularly interested in the relation between culture, language, and community development and has worked with nonprofit organizations in community economic development. A member of the Humanities Council for seventeen years, Gradin is a recipient of the William C. Friday Fellowship in Human Relations, a program of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative. Gradin began his work at the Council in August of 1991.