As part of growing collaboration with Wuhan’s prestigious Centre for the Study of Media Development (CSMD), the team from Deakin’s School of Communication and Creative Arts attended the 2nd Comparative Communication Study International Symposium.

The symposium aimed to advance understanding of comparative China Communication and followed the inaugural symposium in 2018, which was sponsored by Deakin University’s Faculty of Arts and Education, in collaboration with the Global Digital Publics Network and the Alfred Deakin Institute (ADI).

Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Education, Professor Katya Johanson opened this year’s event at Wuhan University, with the Vice President of Wuhan University Professor Li Fei. Deakin’s Professor P. David Marshall gave the Opening Keynote Address, entitled “Understanding Comparative Communication through the Lens of Comparative Persona”.

With over 100 in attendance, Deakin’s Dr Jian Xu presented work on “The Rise and Fall of the ‘King of Hanmai’—MC Tianyou,” as well as chairing a panel.

Deakin’s Dr Usha Rodrigues presented on “Cultural Diversity and News in Australia”. Professor Marshall and Associate Professor Xiao Jun presented the Summary Closing Remarks after Wuhan University’s Director of the CSMD Professor Shan Bo presented his Keynote address “Rethinking Comparative Communication Study”.

Many other significant scholars were in attendance from Chinese and international universities, including Professor Clifford Christians from the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, and Professor Kenneth Rogerson from Duke University.

New projects were discussed and progressed, including a project that looks at Fame and its History in China. This project is paralleling Professor Marshall’s six-volume, 54-international contributor-supported “Cultural History of Fame” Project. “Cultural History of Fame” is under contract with Bloomsbury Academic Press. Professor Marshall is General Editor and there will be six volume editors on: Antiquity, Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Revolutions and Contemporary. All six volumes are expected to be published in June 2021.

Advances in comparative communication analysis and contemporary studies related to online culture are also progressing towards the collaboration stage amongst Deakin and Wuhan University scholars.

While in China, the Deakin team also attended the 10th International Conference on Intercultural Communication in Nanning China, a major scholarly conference organised by the CSMD in follow-up to the Symposium. Here, Professor Marshall gave one of the Keynotes on: “Emotion and Online Intercultural Communication and Connection: An Investigation into the transformations of collective and individualized persona through Online culture”. Dr Usha Rodrigues presented her paper “Did social media have an impact on the 2019 Indian Elections?” and Dr Jian Xu presented his co-authored work: “Celebrity-inspired, Fan-driven: Doing Philanthropy through Social media in China”.

The School of Communication and Creative Arts, ADI and Global Digital Publics Network at Deakin look forward to hosting the third Comparative Communication Study International Symposium in October 2020, to further explore the innovative, world-leading communications research of these two universities.