Call for Papers - 12th Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) 19-21 June 2014 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ABSTRACTS DUE BY JANUARY 1, 2014 Situated Practices on China's changing Internets:
From the users of mobile ICTs and Apps to Weibo posters and Social Networkers
Website: http://myweb.polyu.edu.hk/~circ12/ Introduction CIRC was started in 2003, when less than 25 million people had access to the Internet in China, to study the impact this new technology might have on China's still somewhat isolated society, culture, and politics. By July 2013, the Internet in China had grown to almost 600 million Chinese Internet users whose activities have influenced Chinese society and culture in many different ways. Meanwhile, the CIRC continued to investigate and discuss these exciting developments in annual conferences held most recently at Peking University (2010), Georgetown University (2011), University of Southern California (2012), and the University of Oxford (2013). As an interdisciplinary conference, CIRC has profited from the exchanges between researchers from diverse academic and disciplinary traditions, as well as the inclusion of experts from outside academia. Academics, journalists, market researchers, industry analysts, legal practitioners, business leaders and others come together at the conference to discuss the latest developments of the Internet in China. In June 2014, the Chinese Internet Research Conference will return to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a place both inside and outside China, with the world's fastest broadband Internet next to the world's most openly censored one. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University will host CIRC 12 (June 19-21) as well as a related postgraduate student pre-conference (June 18 and 19), in the centre of the Hong Kong and just 45 minutes by train from the physical and digital borders with Mainland China. CIRC 12 wishes to continue the proud tradition of past Chinese Internet Research Conferences in challenging researchers to take a fresh look at the Chinese Internet by recognizing the complexity of the Chinese digital media ecology and focusing on the lived practices of Chinese Internet users and the embedding of the Internet into their lives. CIRC 12 encourages papers that go beyond studies of the interactions between netizens and the state to look more closely at the rich variety of practices that have evolved on China's digital media platforms in its enforced distance from the global Internet. Some of the many questions papers could address in this context are: - How are different people in China using their mobile phones or computing devices to access networked services, and how is this affecting their work, leisure, relationships, families, studies, etc? - Where and when are people in China accessing the Internet and what is it they are accessing? - How are mobile phones and computing devices affecting businesses and the work or study environment in China? - How do people in China describe 'the Internet' and their online practices, as well as their feelings and attitudes towards cyberspace? - How have individual social networks in China been affected by the rise of networked services? - How has the Internet affected China, and how has China affected the Internet? - How has the Internet affected Chinese culture and vice versa? - What is Chinese about the Internet in China? - Who are the users of the Chinese Internet? - What are the differences, if any, between Internet use in China and elsewhere, in particular in different parts of the Chinese-speaking world, e.g. Hong Kong, Taiwan, overseas Chinese? - How do everyday practices on the Chinese Internet intersect with discourses - circulating both inside and outside China - on the Internet? - How are practices on the Chinese internet related to policy? Paper and Panel Proposals The organising committee invites proposals for paper presentations or panels that address one or more of the questions above or related issues concerning the Internet in the Chinese-speaking world. Proposals should be written in English and should not exceed 500 words for individual papers, or 1000 words for panel proposals. Proposals and enquiries should be sent to circ12@polyu.edu.hk Deadlines Proposals for panels and papers should be submitted by 1 January, 2014. The organising committee will provide feedback on the proposals and full versions of the accepted papers of up to 8,000 words including references should be prepared by 1 May 2014 and sent via email to the organising committee. Graduate Student Pre-Conference and Paper Competition CIRC 12 will include a graduate student pre-conference 18-19 June 2014 that will focus on methodology and ethics of Internet research in the People's Republic of China, both of which pose particular problems, which are often not discussed in sufficient depth. It is hoped that the pre-conference will promote a greater discussion of some of the difficulties new researchers face in analysing the Internet in China. The pre-conference will consist of two master classes and postgraduate students are encouraged to submit paper proposals of up to 500 words focussing on methodology and/or ethics to the pre-conference, while papers for the main conference should focus on thematic issues. The main conference continues to welcome graduate student papers, and submissions FOR THE MAIN CONFERENCE will be considered for CIRC's annual graduate student paper competition. Please note that only papers without faculty co-authors are eligible for the competition. Organising Committee Chair David Kurt HEROLD, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS), HK Polytechnic University Members CHENG Chungtai, Teaching Fellow, APSS, HK Polytechnic University Rodney CHU, Assistant Professor, APSS, HK Polytechnic University Alex COCKAIN, Teaching Fellow, APSS, HK Polytechnic University Patrick LAW, Assistant Professor, APSS, HK Polytechnic University CIRC Steering Committee ANG Peng Hwa, Director, Singapore Internet Research Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore William H. DUTTON, Professor of Internet Studies, OII, University of Oxford HU Yong, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University Randy KLUVER, Exec. Director, Global Partnerships and Projects, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University Monroe PRICE, Director, Center for Global Communication Studies and Adjunct Full Professor, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania Jack Linchuan QIU, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ernest J. WILSON III, Dean and Walter H. Annenberg Chair in Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism Peter K. YU, Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law, and founding director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School ==================== Dr. David Kurt Herold, Assistant Prof. for Sociology, APSS - GH325, HK Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel.: +852-3400 3015 Fax: +852-2773 6558 http://myweb.polyu.edu.hk/~ssherold/ ==================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and notify the sender and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (the University) immediately. 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