This timely volume offers a mapping of the Internet as it has developed and been used internationally. It is the first book to provide a range of perspectives on the international Internet and to explore the implications of such new knowledge.

This book provides a solid, encompassing definition of Internet memes, exploring both the common features of memes around the globe and their particular regional traits. It identifies and explains the roles that these viral texts play in Internet communication: cultural, social and political implications; significance for self-representation and identity formation; promotion of alternative opinion or trending interpretation; and subversive and resistant power in relation to professional media, propaganda, and traditional and digital political campaigning. It also offers unique comparative case studies of Internet memes in Russia and the United States.

This timely book offers a mapping of the Internet as it has developed and is used internationally, providing a lively and challenging examination of the Internet and Internet studies. There is much interest among scholars and researchers in understanding the place of the Internet in cultural, social, national, and regional settings. This is the first book-length account that not only provides a range of perspectives on the international Internet, but also explores the implications of such new knowledge and accounts for concepts, methods, and themes in Internet studies. Of special interest will be the book’s fresh and up-to-date coverage of the Internet in perhaps the most dynamic region at present: Asia-Pacific.

This compelling book focuses on the global formation of the Internet system. It contests the common belief that the Internet's adoption was inevitable and instead examines the social and economic processes that allowed to it to prevail over competing standards and methods for achieving a global information infrastructure. The author demonstrates how the current Internet system was not the only possible choice, nor the best data network in terms of technological and economic performance. It is therefore vital, he argues, to understand the way in which different political and economic interests have helped shaped the Internet and allowed it to overcome rival technologies. Issues of particular importance include the role of negotiations among different social groups in the design of the Internet as well as the influence of US promotion. The author also examines patterns of growth and pervasiveness of the Internet between different regions and countries, providing new evidence on the factors influencing the extent of the 'digital divide'. Using econometric models, he goes on to identify the features of the co-evolution of the Internet and other sub-systems within countries, and highlights the most interesting features of their local and global interplay. Researchers and academics involved with science and technology policy, industrial and corporate change, and the information society will welcome this insightful, original and highly pertinent book. It will also be of value for anyone with an interest in how the backbone of the digital economy was formed.

The explosion of transnational information flows, made possible by new technologies and institutional changes (economic, political and legal) has profoundly affected the study of global media. At the same time, the globalization of media combined with the globalization of higher education means that the research and teaching of the subject faces immediate and profound challenges, not only as the subject of enquiry but also as the means by which researchers and students undertake their studies. Edited by a leading scholar of global communication, this collection of essays by internationally-acclaimed scholars from around the world aims to stimulate a debate about the imperatives for internationalizing media studies by broadening its remit, including innovative research methodologies, taking account of regional and national specificities and pedagogic necessities warranted by the changing profile of students and researchers and the unprecedented growth of media in the non-Western world. Transnational in its perspectives, Internationalizing Media Studies is a much-needed guide to the internationalization of media and its study in a global context.

The drive to internationalize higher education has seen the focus shift in recent years towards its defining element, the curriculum. As the point of connection between broader institutional strategies and the student experience, the curriculum plays a key role in the success or failure of the internationalization agenda. Yet despite much debate, the role and power of curriculum internationalization is often unappreciated. This has meant that critical questions, including what it means and how it can be achieved in different disciplines, have not been consistently or strategically addressed. This volume breaks new ground in connecting theory and practice in internationalizing the curriculum in different disciplinary and institutional contexts. An extensive literature review, case studies and action research projects provide valuable insights into the concept of internationalization of the curriculum. Best practice in curriculum design, teaching and learning in higher education are applied specifically to the process of internationalizing the curriculum. Examples from different disciplines and a range of practical resources and ideas are provided. Topics covered include: why internationalize the curriculum?; designing internationalized learning outcomes; using student diversity to internationalize the curriculum; blockers and enablers to internationalization of the curriculum; assessment in an internationalized curriculum; connecting internationalization of the curriculum with institutional goals and student learning. Internationalizing the Curriculum provides invaluable guidance to university managers, academic staff, professional development lecturers and support staff as well as students and scholars interested in advancing theory and practice in this important area.

This collection of essays by leading scholars from around the world aims to stimulate a debate about the imperatives for internationalizing media studies, and provides much-needed material on the dynamics of the media studies field in a global context. Lively and current case studies are included within the essays to exemplify the main arguments.