CIRC 2012 - 10th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference: Social Media, Digital Entertainment, Governance & Social Movements

Ten years ago, when China’s Internet population totaled 22.5 million and Facebook and Twitter had not even been conceived, a group of researchers came together to organize a conference to study the Internet in China. By all indications even then, it was clear that China would have a major impact on the global digital economy. Ten years on, that foresight has been vindicated.
China today has the largest Internet population of any country and it has made its presence felt in the Internet space. In all aspects of the Internet ? online gaming, micro blogging, search engines, ecommerce, content regulation, Internet governance, international domain names ? China is both changing and being changed by the Internet. The annual Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) investigates these phenomena, asking probing questions into what, how, to what extent, and why these changes are taking and have taken place.
Hosted by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the USC U.S.-China Institute, the 10th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference ? CIRC10 ? will be held on May 21-23, 2012, in Los Angeles, the world's entertainment capital. CIRC10 will examine trends and themes as we explore the ways in which the Internet and other technologies interact with Chinese cultural and social life.
We welcome contributions from all and disciplines that seek to address these themes. This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars, analysts, industry leaders, journalists and legal practitioners from around the world to examine the impact of the Internet on Chinese societies, its social, cultural, political and economic aspects, as well as how China is changing the Internet.
Submissions may come from any discipline. Specific topics of interest include but are not limited to:
Industry involvement ? gaming, youth, social media; consumption patterns, online popular culture; China as original developer in gaming products;
Governance issues ? state regulation and content controls; e-government and m-government; civil society and Internet governance; China and global Internet governance;
Online social movements ? social media and grassroots activism; micro blogging and its impact across traditional Internet portals and start-ups over the new generation of Chinese “digital natives”;
Ten years in retrospect ? review of developments in digital/social media and prognoses for the future of the internet
We will accept three categories of English-language submissions:
Full papers ? these should be 20?25 pages long with a maximum of 10,000 words.
Extended abstracts ? these should be 750?1,000 words.
Panel submissions ? these should have a maximum of 2,000 words.
All proposals will be peer reviewed. Submissions should be sent via e-mail to chinainternet10-AT-gmail.com by Jan. 30, 2012. Please include your affiliation, title (include graduate student status if applicable), and contact information. If you are proposing a panel, please include that information for all panelists. Authors will be notified of acceptance by March 15, 2012.
Selected papers from the conference may be published in a conference volume or a special symposium issue of an academic journal. Participation in the conference neither guarantees nor compels publication of a paper.
A limited amount of travel funding will be available for promising young scholars. To indicate interest in the travel scholarship, please attach your CV along with the submitted abstract. Graduate students may submit conference papers for the annual graduate student paper competition. Eligibility is limited to papers that do not include any faculty co-authors.
Conference cooperating institutions include:
The Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School; Institute for Pacific Asia at Texas
A&M University; School of Journalism and Communication at Chinese University of Hong Kong,
School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University; Singapore Internet Research Center
(SiRC) at Nanyang Technological University.
Past Chinese Internet Research Conferences were held at:
Georgetown University (CIRC9), Peking University (CIRC8), the University of Pennsylvania (CIRC7), the University of Hong Kong (CIRC6), Texas A&M University (CIRC5), Nanyang Technological University (CIRC4), Michigan State University (CIRC3), University of California at Berkeley (CIRC2), and the University of Southern California (CIRC1).
The Convener of CIRC10:
USC Annenberg School was founded in 1971 with generous support from Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg. Its strategic location in Los Angeles at USC enables it to foster dynamic synergies and multidisciplinary approaches to the study of communication and journalism through unparalleled access to the nation's and the world's entertainment, media and technology industries. Today, with more than 83 full-time faculty members and 120 adjunct professors, more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students, and dozens of research and public interest projects and programs, USC Annenberg has become a center for discussion among scholars and professionals in journalism, communication, public policy, media, and education.
Multidisciplinary and international in scope, focused and practical in application, USC Annenberg scholars, both students and faculty, are defining these fields for the 21st century and beyond. USC Annenberg School is proud to host CIRC10, marking the tenth anniversary from when the conference series first started at USC Annenberg.
Now part of the USC Annenberg, the USC U.S.-China Institute was launched by USC President (then Provost) C.L. Max Nikias to focus on the multidimensional U.S.-China relationship and key trends in contemporary China. The institute informs public discussion on the relationship through path-breaking research, innovative instructional programs, and compelling public programs, documentaries, and publications.