Philip Seib  (pictured), director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, was recognized as the Scholar of the Year by the International Studies Association (ISA) in New Orleans on Feb. 18.

Awarded the International Communications Distinguished Scholar Award at the ISA Annual Convention held Feb. 17-20, Seib was recognized for his significant contributions to the field of international communication.

“Phil’s body of work provides the contextual and theoretical foundations for understanding the relationship between media and conflict and serves as a reference point from which we all start,” said Ken Rogerson, current chair, ISA’s International Communication Section. “The committee settled on Phil because of the extraordinary contributions he makes to a wider audience.”

Seib recently chaired several panel discussions at the annual convention. Topics of discussion included Terrorism and New Media, and the Politics of Information: Media Freedom and Government Control. In a separate panel, he joined other visiting professors from U.S. and international universities to discuss the Battle for Influence: Great Powers in the 21st Century.

“Receiving something like this is very flattering,” Seib said. “The ISA is a highly respected international studies organization.”

Seib is a Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy and Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is author or editor of numerous books, including Headline Diplomacy: How News Coverage Affects Foreign Policy; The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict; Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War; Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War; New Media and the New Middle East (2007); The Al Jazeera Effect (2008); and Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy (2009). Seib is also the editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication, co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy and co-editor of the journal Media, War and Conflict, published by Sage.

“Phil’s regular, thoughtful blogging and his leadership of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy provide connectivity between the academic world and others for whom conversations about international communication are important,” Rogerson said. “He not only contributes with his scholarship, he pushes us to think about the complexity of international communication processes in new ways.”

Last year’s recipient of this award was USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III.

USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School
International Studies Association