Theme: History, Social Science, and Digital Methods for Researching China

May 5-6, 2025 | UC San Diego

The Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, together with the 21st Century China Center and The Carter Center, is convening an academic conference on “History, Social Science, and Digital Methods for Researching China.” This conference will explore opportunities for integrating social science and historical scholarship on China, with particular focus on how different disciplines are utilizing new digital tools and methodologies. Attendees will address the central question: How might emerging interdisciplinary methodological approaches help redefine our understanding of China’s recent past?

The conference focuses on the potential benefits of interchange between social science and history in the realms of: digitally assembled archives enabling both traditional historical methods and new social scientific methods of analysis; social science’s historical turn in studying China, using GIS and other quantitative methodologies; historical research in the age of AI, utilizing LLMs, machine learning, and other data science tools; and the study of digital spaces as a subject in historical and social science research. Papers should substantively focus on any aspect of Chinese history, especially during the PRC.  

In addition to the themes above, The Carter Center is looking for papers that use an interdisciplinary approach to study historical and contemporary U.S.-China relations and the history of China’s foreign policy. Papers that examine any period of the U.S.-China relationship from the perspective of a third country are especially welcome. 

The Fudan-UC Center’s Young Scholars’ Conference convenes each year to bring together young scholars studying China from China and North America. We invite advanced graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, and junior faculty to submit applications. Applicants should attach PDFs of their abstract, brief cover letter, and CV to the form found on this link as described in greater detail on the PDF linked below. If selected, each presenter will receive a travel (e.g. airfare and lodging) subsidy of up to $1,000. 

Applications must be submitted by Jan.15, 2025. Selected participants will be informed by no later than Feb.5, and completed papers should be sent to the conference organizers by April 25th.  

International applicants needing a visa may request review of their submissions earlier so that, if selected, they have sufficient time for visa applications and travel preparations.  

Email any questions to Harris Doshay at hdoshay@ucsd.edu.