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Professor of economics and director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan, and consultant on China to the U. S. Department of State. China files relating to the Chinese economy and to the reopening of relations with the Peoples Republic of China; also correspondence and talk files; papers and photographs relating to professional travels; writings; and miscellaneous University and Vietnam subject files.

The papers of Alexander Eckstein consist of 10.3 linear feet of material. The collection most heavily documents the last twenty-five years of Eckstein's life, roughly the years 1960-1976, although there is some earlier material dating back to World War II. The papers deal almost exclusively with his professional life; there is very little of a personal nature included. Furthermore, the bulk of the collection concerns primarily his work and interest in China, although the section of his writings does contain material on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The papers portray Eckstein the scholar rather than Eckstein the professor. For instance there are no materials relating to his term as Director of the China Center at the University of Michigan or to the Chinese Economic Studies project which he directed. The collection is divided into the following major series: Personal, China, Personal Correspondence, Talks, Trips, University of Michigan, Vietnam, Writings, Sound Recordings, and Photographs.

Michel Oksenberg was a Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and a specialist in China and Sino-American relations. His papers contain correspondence concerning professional activities, committee assignments, conferences; publications, project files, book reviews, and periodical articles; also interview notes with refugees from the People's Republic of China conducted in Hong Kong.

Michel Oksenberg papers document Oksenberg's activities as teacher, researcher, policy advisor, and business consultant, as well as his service on several national Chinese studies committees. The normalization of relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) had a profound impact on American sinologists; Oksenberg's papers provide an overview of Chinese studies before, during and after normalization, while also furnishing insight into the actual process of normalization.

Richard Solomon was a professor of political science at the Univerity of Michigan, a White House staffer who worked on "ping-pong diplomacy" under Henry Kissinger during the Nixon administration, and a scholar of Chinese history and politics. This collection consists primarily of interviews with Chinese refugees and subsequent computer data printouts and analysis of these interviews.

This collection is organized into two series: Interview Materials and Professional Materials, and primarily documents interviews conducted by Solomon and his associates, likely for Solomon's dissertation on Chinese political culture. The majority of the materials are written in Chinese, although there are some interview transcriptions, interview analyses, and reports written in English.

The Interview Materials series is divided into two subseries: (1) Interviews; and (2) Data and Analysis. The Interviews subseries is comprised of interview responses and transcripts; various tests, evaluations, and score sheets; and handwritten materials. The Data and Analysis subseries is comprised primarily of computer data printouts, although it also contains some reports authored by Solomon on changing Chinese culture, as well as a magnetic data tape.

Researchers may find the folder "Interview Materials, General," located in Box 3 of the Interviews subseries, helpful in understanding some of the abbreviations used throughout the papers, the reasoning behind the interviews, and how the interviews were written up. Some commonly used acronyms are: "RT," which stands for Rorschach Test; a T or H preceding a number stands for either Taiwan or Hong Kong; "Trad-Mod" stands for "Traditionality - modernity," which was an attitude scale used by Solomon to quantitatively measure degrees "of modernity."

The Professional Materials series is comprised of a single folder titled "Ping Pong" that contains handwritten notes and various newspaper clippings related to the Chinese ping pong team's visit to the United States in 1972.