The Stuart Hall Outstanding Mentor Award

2025 Stuart Hall Outstanding Mentor Award Recipient

The Caribbean Philosophical Association has selected Daniel McNeil as this year’s recipient of the Stuart Hall Outstanding Mentorship Award. Professor Daniel McNeil is an award-winning author, editor, and mentor who explores how movement, travel, and relocation have enhanced creative development, the writing of cultural history, and the assessment of political choices. Over the past two decades, he has transformed and boosted interdisciplinary research, teaching, and program development across various disciplines and institutions in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.

Professor McNeil has held permanent positions as a lecturer in Black and Minority Studies at the University of Hull, a lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Newcastle University, and Carleton University’s strategic hire in Migration and Diaspora Studies. His fellowships and visiting positions include the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Visiting Professorship of African and Black Diaspora Studies at DePaul University, a position designed to support intellectuals with a proven track record of research excellence, and the Visiting Public Humanities Faculty Fellowship at the University of Toronto, a position open to citizens of all countries who are tenured faculty members with a history of research achievement, the capacity to present their research across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, and a promise of continued excellence.  In 2021, he was appointed the Queen’s National Scholar Chair in Black Studies at Queen’s University in recognition of his demonstrated excellence in cultivating innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research programs as well as rich and rewarding learning experiences for students to study and engage the connections between the arts, social justice, and decolonial thought.

Professor McNeil’s award-winning research includes Sex and Race in the Black Atlantic (Routledge, 2010), Migration and Stereotypes in Performance and Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), and “Even Canadians Find It a Bit Boring: A Report on the Banality of Multiculturalism” (2021), which was the inaugural recipient of the Editor’s Award from the Canadian Journal of Communication. His most recent book, Thinking While Black: Translating the Politics and Popular Culture of a Rebel Generation (Rutgers University Press, 2023), delves into the personal and social connections with music, film, and culture that have inspired multiracial groups to envision and establish social movements aimed at dismantling racial inequalities. His public engagement profile also includes cultural criticism, and he is a producer and co-host of the Black Studies Podcast, which assembles artists, activists, curators, scholars, and musicians to discuss creative and collaborative knowledge-making.

Professor McNeil is selected for the Stuart Hall Award for his combination of excellent scholarship and excellent teaching and citizenship of the academic profession. His recent accolades include two Black Excellence in Mentorship Awards at Queen’s University. These are part of a long line of acknowledgment of his mentorship, teaching, and community work. The Committee received comments on his outstanding mentorship as far back as his time at DePaul University in 2013 when he was the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Visiting Professor in African and Black Diaspora Studies. His impact on students, staff, and colleagues was as palpable then as it continued to be over the years in his subsequent appointments. The Chairperson of the Award’s Committee has argued that there are four kinds of leaders: the blockers, the do-nothings (those who neither block nor facilitate), the advocates/facilitators, and the prejudiced (those who help whom they like and block those they dislike). Professor McNeil is definitely the third kind: He seeks out others’ strengths and does what he can to facilitate their flourishing. He works with communities and finds ways for different members to work together.

The Committee regards Professor McNeil as a scholar who, like Stuart Hall, brings communities working on Black Atlantic Cultural Studies to the forefront of contemporary debates not only in Europe and North America but also the Caribbean and much of the global south.  The impressive list of students he has mentored as a scholar over the past two decades speaks for itself: He has mentored communities outside of the academy through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, and his doctoral students span the globe in a range of disciplines ranging from Indigenous and Canadian Studies (at Carleton) to Black digital studies (at Queen’s), as well as subaltern musical ecologies, film and media studies, decolonial worldbuilding, and more at institutions such as Dalhousie, Concordia, and California State University.  His commitment to public learning is attested to in this article as well.  His career is marked by taking education to the proverbial streets through podcasting, radio, and community-centered teaching.

President of the Caribbean Philosophical Association, Jacqueline Martinez, comments:

The Caribbean Philosophical Association is most pleased to recognize Professor Daniel McNeil’s incredible impact through his mentoring that connects social justice and decolonial thought to the living relationships through which we seek mutual growth and understanding.

Testimonials from some of his students confirm this:

I found studying with Dr. McNeil to be intellectually stimulating and inspiring. He has a commitment to his students’ learning that is apparent immediately; he is a deep and focused listener. In his class, when you speak, he gives you his full attention, writing detailed notes and following up with fascinating reflections on your thoughts, pushing your ideas further with critically attuned questions. I always looked forward to his class, and without a doubt I feel that his class was the most energizing graduate class that I attended. He applies this same care and vitality to papers, reflecting at length on the work, both praising its attributes and encouraging you to push further. With Dr. McNeil you truly feel heard and invigorated to keep reading, researching, and writing.

It is for these reasons that I wanted Dr. McNeil to be part of my PhD committee. He is a dedicated reader whose insights on my research are illuminating, adding a rich perspective to my work. His ability to spark a vibrant conversation make our committee meetings both enjoyable and intellectually rewarding. It is an absolute pleasure to speak with him and I’m grateful that his role in the committee provides me with continued opportunities to engage with him on topics of shared interest. For me, Dr. McNeil has been a brilliant mentor, I’m very lucky to have his ongoing support throughout my graduate journey. I wholeheartedly recommend him for this award.

—Brandon Hocura

Professor McNeil’s support was crucial for my application to the Emerging Leader in the Americas Program (ELAP) scholarship. Much of the success of the application is due to his dedication. He fulfilled all expectations as a mentor, providing what is expected from a professor in this role. Starting by suggesting readings I wasn’t aware of and guiding the research direction.

I had the opportunity to take a graduate course taught by him, in which I learned a lot.  I was also given the space to present my research to his local students which greatly contributed to enhance my research. He has helped me identify organizations and professionals who could assist me with my research. Even going so far as to send numerous emails to these professionals. He provided all the necessary support to ensure my stay at Carleton University was productive, helping me learn how to navigate bureaucracy and establish a professional network. I was also able to rely on his support to conduct research in other Canadian cities beyond Ottawa, as well as institutional support to submit a paper and travel to present it at the Stuart Hall Conference in West Indies University - Mona Campus (Kingston, Jamaica).

Finally, it is worth mentioning Professor McNeil’s full support during an episode of racism I experienced while I was a recipient of ELAP scholarship at Carleton University.

—Liliane Braga (Ndembwemi)

Nominations

Nominations for this award should be made by September 1st for consideration of receiving the award the succeeding year. The Committee will not consider self-nominations. The nomination should include a statement on the nominee’s contributions, influence, and a list of at least three students or mentees of the candidate. The Chairperson of the Awards Committee will then solicit letters from those students and prepare an overall dossier of the candidate’s achievements to present to the Awards Committee of the Caribbean Philosophical Association. The Committee consists of all the laureates of the Frantz Fanon Award and Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista Award, and as the number of awardees grows, the Stuart Hall Award. The nominations should be sent to CaribphilPrizes@gmail.com.

Stuart Hall Prize Previous Recipients