During a 2011 alumni event in Beijing, Brown Professsor Evelyn Hu-Dehart presented alum and poet Zheng Min with a scarf from her alma mater.
The Year of China Oral History Project aimed to document the evolving relationship that Brown University has had with China as an idea as well as to this community at different points in history. By recording the diverse voices of the Chinese student, staff, and faculty communities at Brown as well as faculty with an academic interest in China, the project attempted to fill in gaps in the historical record.
Project Description:
Connecting with the past, and building the Archives, the Year of China program provided a unique opportunity for the University to share and preserve stories of Chinese students over the last several decades. For the Year of China Oral History Project, faculty, staff, and alumni conducted selected interviews with graduates of Brown University as well as faculty and staff. The interviews illuminate a larger history of China by examining the experience of exchange students and faculty at different moments. Interviews with faculty members allow for a better understanding of changing academic interest in China over the years.
Interviews generally lasted about an hour and cover topics such as early life, experiences at Brown as a student and/or faculty member, and life after Brown. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and will be stored in the University Archives upon completion of the Year of China initiative in June 2012.
Below are excerpts from the interviews conducted during the 2011-2012 academic year. To see the full transcript or hear the audio, please email the Univeristy Archives.
Xue Di, Brown University staff member
Alison Friedman '02
Alice and Sidney Goldstein, Brown University Faculty
Zheng Min A.M. '52 (click here for excerpt; click here for full interview)
