The Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) began in 2003 with the first conference held at the University of Southern California. Since then, CIRC has convened annually to develop a community of scholars and feature research that examines the development, use, and impact of the Internet, mobile phones, and associated new media technologies in the Chinese world.  Scholars from a variety of academic disciplines, including media and communication, journalism, political science, law, sociology, psychology, education, cultural studies, international relations, and geography, as well as analysts from public- and private-sector research units participate in the conference. Their presentation topics cover Internet law and policy, user behavior, online participation, gaming, online civil society, social movement, identity and culture, among other areas.  The conference series has been highly successful in encouraging new and innovative scholarship on the Chinese Internet and mobile phones, developing and mentoring researchers and research collaborations, and generating published research on the Internet and new media in China, Chinese societies, and Chinese-related Internet dynamics around the world.

The Conference venue changes yearly, and is typically hosted by a local university or research institution. 

Previous conferences have been held at:

2003 University of Southern California

2004 University of California, Berkeley

2005 Michigan State University

2006 Nanyang Technological University

2007 Texas A&M University

2008 University of Hong Kong

2009 University of Pennsylvania

2010 Peking University

2011 Georgetown University

2012 University of Southern California

2013 The University of Oxford

2014 Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2015 University of Alberta

2016 Fudan University

2017 Texas A&M University

2018 University of Leiden

2019 National University of Singapore; Murdoch University, Singapore & Australia

2020/2021 (postponed due to COVID-19) RMIT University (https://circ2021.net/)

2022   Hong Kong Baptist University (https://www.comm.hkbu.edu.hk/circ2022/)

 

 

Members of the CIRC Steering Committee including:

HU Yong, Peking University

Min JIANG, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Randy KLUVER, Oklahoma State University

Jack Linchuan QIU, National University of Singapore

Florian SCHNEIDER, Leiden University

Cara WALLIS, Texas A&M University
Haiqing Yu, RMIT University

Peter K. YU, Texas A&M University

Weiyu ZHANG, National University of Singapore

Baohua ZHOU, Fudan University

 

For ten years, Prof. ANG Peng Hwa was a former member of the CIRC Steering Committee until 2015, when he was elected as the President of ICA (International Communication Association).

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2023 Hosts