YEREVAN, Armenia — American University of Armenia (AUA) Assistant Professor and M.A. in Multiplatform Journalism (MAMJ) Program Chair Dr. Shawn McIntosh, together with co-author Dr. John Pavlik, a professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, recently won a Textbook Excellence Award, also known as “Texty,” from the the Textbook and Academic Authors Association (TAA) for Converging Media: An Introduction to Mass Communication and Digital Innovation, 7th edition. This edition of the textbook was published in November 2023 by Oxford University Press.
The Textbook Excellence Award, which is awarded by a group of leading subject matter experts, recognizes excellence in current textbooks and learning materials based on scholarship, writing, pedagogy, and design.
“John and I have been co-authors of this textbook since the first edition in 2003,” said Dr. McIntosh. “We have always put media convergence as a fundamental principle in order to better understand what is happening in our media landscape today. The radical changes that digital technologies bring to media and our understanding of our media landscapes is so important for college students to realize, as it affects us in so many ways.”
The MAMJ program chair added that it has been rewarding to hear from faculty who have utilized the book over the years. “Initially, we would encounter some resistance from old-school professors who wondered why they needed to change their course syllabi, or why they couldn’t just add a unit on digital media and call it a day,” Dr. McIntosh recounted. “But then we started hearing from more and more faculty who would write us and say ‘Thank you — this is exactly the kind of textbook I’ve been trying to find for so long!’”
TAA will hold a virtual awards ceremony for the winners in various subject area categories for the Textbook Excellence Award, the William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Award, and the Most Promising New Textbook Award on April 25, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.