Min Jiang

Dr. Min Jiang is Professor of Communication Studies, an affiliate faculty member of International Studies at UNC Charlotte, and CyberBRICS Visiting Professor at FGV Law School (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). She is co-coordinator of Digital Arts, Sciences & Technologies (DAST), a College of Liberal Arts & Sciences initiative in digital humanities; a Secretariat member of the annual international Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC); and Associate Editor of Sage journal Communication & the Public. Previously, she served as an Advisory Board Member of Project Mosaic, a university social science research initiative and Chair of Faculty Advisory Board to the Confucius Institute at UNC Charlotte. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in new media technology, global media and research methods.

Highly interdisciplinary, her work blends new media studies, political communication, international communication, legal studies, and information science. She’s written on Chinese digital technologies (search engine, social media, big data), politics (digital activism, online political satire, diplomacy), business (Chinese Internet giants, business ethics), policies (real name registration, privacy, security) and increasingly the impact of Chinese technologies and policies on the Global South and global communication. Her work has appeared in Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, International Journal of Communication, Social Science Computer Review, International Communication Gazette, Electronic Journal of Communication, Policy & Internet among other academic journals. She is writing a book tentatively titled China vs. Information.

A recipient of over two dozen research/travel grants, she was the first Research Fellow at UNC Charlotte’s Center for Humanities, Technology, and Science, a faculty member of the 2009 Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute, a finalist in 2009 Knight News Challenge and a CyberBRICS Fellow with the FGV Law School (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in 2019.

Reuters, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, New Scientist, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Al Jazeera English, Deutsche Welle, Der Tagesspiegel among other media outlets have interviewed her. Her essays and op-eds have also appeared in The Diplomat, Nikkei Asian Review, China-U.S. Focus, and Asia Dialogue. Many research institutions have invited her to present her work or funded her research including:

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) (2021-2027). Advisory board member and China team lead on a 40-country, 7-year grant for “Global Internet and Media Concentration Project” [Total funds: $2.5 million]
• CyberBRICS Fellow, FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [Total funds: $15,000]
• Social Science Research Council (SSRC) (2013-2014), Media, Activism, and the New Political: InterAsian Perspectives. InterAsia Initiative. [Total funds: $25,000 for China team of led by Dr. Guobin Yang]
• National Humanities Center
• National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR)
• Stanford Law School, Center for Internet & Society
• Fairbank Center, Harvard University
• Center for the Study of Contemporary China, University of Pennsylvania
• International Reporting Project (IRP)
• SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
• Northwestern University
• Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy, University of Oxford
• Institute of Chinese Studies, Free University of Berlin
• French Institute of International Relations (Ifri)
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Lund University (Sweden)
• Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam Polytechnic, The Netherland
• Hertie School of Government, Berlin, Germany

She received her Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University in 2007. Prior to pursuing her doctor’s degree in the U.S., she worked as an international news editor for Beijing Television (BTV) and China Central Television (CCTV) as well as assistant to director for Kill Bill I in China.

Active in the local community, she previously served on the board of the Charlotte chapter of The National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP Charlotte) and is a member of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.

Education

• Ph.D., Purdue University 2007
• M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2002
• B.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 1999

Appointments

Professor (2020 May – now) Department of Communication Studies, UNC Charlotte

Associate Editor (January 2019 – ) Sage journal Communication & the Public

Member of Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) Secretariat (2015 May – Present). CIRC is an annual international conference focused on the Chinese Internet. Started at USC, this conference has been hosted by various institutions including UC-Berkeley, MSU, NIT, Texas A&M, University of Hong Kong, University of Pennsylvania, Peking University, Georgetown, Oxford, Hong Kong Polytechnic, University of Alberta, and Leiden University (Archive)

Chair of Faculty Advisory Council, Confucius Institute (August 2017 – May 2020) Provides faculty leadership in advising the Confucius Institute at UNC Charlotte

Confucius Institute Project Coordinator (May 2016 – May 2017) Led campus effort to establish a Confucius Institute at UNC Charlotte

College Diversity Coordinator (2013 July – May 2014 and July 2015 – 2016 July) Led college efforts in addressing diversity-related issues, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, UNC Charlotte

Associate Professor (2013 April – 2020 May) Department of Communication Studies, UNC Charlotte

Affiliate Researcher (2010 November – now) Center for Advanced Research in the Humanities, Complex Systems Institute, UNC Charlotte

Affiliate Researcher (2010 September – now) Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Affiliate Researcher (2009 January – 2010 September) Center for Humanities, Technology, and Science, UNC Charlotte

Affiliate Faculty (2008 August – now) International Studies, UNC Charlotte

Assistant Professor (2007 August – 2013 April) Department of Communication Studies, UNC Charlotte

Awards & Honors 

CyberBRICS Fellow (May – November, 2019) FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Conducts policy research on data protection and cybersecurity in China and collaborate with other CyberBRICS fellows to develop related policy frameworks.

The Eduard B. Vermeer Prize for the Best Article from China Information in 2014 (2015). My co-author Jesper Schlaeger and I are given this award for our article Official Microblogging and Social Management by Local Governments in China, published in 2014 by Sage journal China Information.

Reassignment of Duties Leave (RDL) (2014 Spring). Granted competitive research leave for Fall 2014 by College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, UNC Charlotte.

Southern States Communication Association (SSCA) Top Paper Panel (2014). Richard W. Leeman, Min Jiang, and King-Wa Fu, “The Obamas Speak at the 2012 Democratic National Convention: The Sina Weibo Response.” Rhetoric and Public Address Division.

International Education Faculty Award Nomination (2013). Nominated by students to recognize faculty achievement in international education at UNC Charlotte.

International Women’s Day Celebration Nomination (2010). Nominated by students to recognize women on UNC Charlotte campus for the enrichment of a global community.

Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute Lecturer (2009). Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy, University of Oxford, UK.

Nominated for Outstanding Dissertation Award (2009). Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association (NCA).

UNC Charlotte Center for Humanities, Technology, and Science Summer Fellow (2008).