Forwarding to you all because, even if you can't attend I thought you might
be interested in the scholarship referenced - as I read this I wondered what
sort of 
"social media" access people have in "underdeveloped"  regions of China -
still.... 
Also curious about MIT's new department of Comparative Media Studies ....
regards - martha wallner 
------------------------

Subject: [mcc-talk] Friday 25 February - APA Studies presents: JING WANG
(MIT), NGO 2.0 AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACTION RESEARCH

NYU's PROGRAM FOR ASIAN/ PACIFIC/ AMERICAN STUDIES presents:

JING WANG, NGO 2.0 AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACTION RESEARCH

Followed by a discussion with Andrew Ross (Social and Cultural Analysis,
NYU)

WHEN: Friday 25 February 2011, 2pm
WHERE: Room 471, 20 Cooper Square [East 5th and Bowery]
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Most contemporary U.S. discourse about digital media in China focusses on
issues of state censorship of the internet.  In 'NGO 2.0 And Social Media
Action Research', Jing Wang takes a different tack: stemming from her
analysis of the blind spots of the Creative Commons movement and her
commitment to exploring ways in which cultural studies scholars can
translate academic expertise into social practice, she discusses the genesis
and implementation of a civic media project she has designed to introduce
social media tools to grassroots NGOs in underdeveloped regions of China.

The challenges are considerable: most NGOs are not legally registered, and
the Chinese government has no desire to encourage civic media participation.
Alternative media is vitally important for recruiting new members and for
choreographing social activism; Web 2.0, driven by open-source software and
network effects, offers exciting possibilities for both of these.  Wang will
describe the establishment of an open mapping platform that allows
grassroots NGOs to connect with the Corporate Social Responsibility programs
of transnational companies in China.

Wang will also address important research questions that emerge from her
social practice.  For instance, how has new media complicated social action
and civic engagement?  What are the evolving stakes for social change
proponents?  How are change agents coping with governmental intervention in
a country where social media is held suspect?  Wang will speculate on the
emergence of a new field of inquiry - social media action research - while
sharing insights and findings about her involvement in shaping an NGO 2.0
culture in China.


--

JING WANG, a Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies, teaches at the
department of Foreign Languages & Literatures at MIT.  She is soon to join a
new department - MIT's Comparative Media Studies - as a faculty member. Her
research interests include advertising and new media, civic media and
contemporary Chinese popular culture.  She is the founder and organizer of
MIT New Media Action Lab and the Chair of the Advisory Board of Creative
Commons China Mainland. Professor Wang was appointed an advisor to the
Wikimedia Foundation in 2010.  Professor Wang published several books, among
them, the award winning 'The Story of Stone'.  Her latest book 'Brand New
China: Advertising, Media, and Commercial Culture' (2008) has been
translated into Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. In spring 2009 she launched
'Chinese NGOs in the Web 2.0 Environment', a project undertaken in
collaboration with the University of Science and Technology of China,
Chinese NGO partner organizations, and transnational corporate partners.


ANDREW ROSS is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York
University.  His books include 'Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the
Consequences of Free Trade-Lessons from Shanghai' (2006), 'Real Love: In
Pursuit of Cultural Justice' (1998),  and 'Strange Weather: Culture, Science
and Technology in the Age of Limits' (1991).

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