Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) has established a reputation for featuring cutting-edge and top-quality research related to the development, growth and impact of information and communications technologies in China and the Chinese-speaking world. Launched in May 2003, the event has featured multidisciplinary presentations from communications scholars, policy analysts, industry leaders, journalists and legal practitioners from around the world.
The year 2017 marks the 15th anniversary of CIRC, which has seen the internet population in China explode from about 50 million to over 700 million. This year’s conference will be held in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday-Tuesday, June 5-6, 2017. The program is available here. The event will be jointly organized by the School of Law and the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University.
Other institutional co-sponsors include the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University, the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the School of Journalism at Fudan University, and the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University School of Law.
Conference Theme
With the rise of indigenous technologies, platforms and tech companies, as well as the world’s largest user base for both traditional and mobile internets, China has an indisputable impact on the technological landscape of the future. To help commemorate the 15th anniversary of CIRC, this year's conference will feature papers contributing to the theme of “Divergence and Convergence in China’s Internets.”
In addition to papers focusing on this particular theme, the conference will include papers providing insight into the development, use and impact of the internets in China. These papers could examine the economic, political, cultural or social dimensions of the internets in Greater China and the Chinese diaspora. They could also explore the interpersonal, intercultural, organizational or global aspects of internet use as well as its theoretical, empirical or policy implications. CIRC has a longstanding tradition of examining not only how the internet affects China, but also how China affects the internet.
Possible topics include:
- models of internet governance;
- surveillance and counter-surveillance;
- content regulation and digital copyright issues;
- issues related to digital inequality along class, gender, age and rural-urban lines;
- regional practices and media globalization;
- the global impact of Chinese internet firms and technologies;
- online communities and marginalized identities;
- cultural production related to the internet and social media;
- the usage, development and impact of online games and other entertainment;
- approaches to big data analysis in the Chinese context; and
- web metrics, network analysis and other research methodologies.
Learn more about the conference and the proposal submission process.
Local Organizing Committee