Daniel McNeil

Daniel McNeil is a British historian, public intellectual and cultural studies scholar specialising in Black Atlantic Studies, Diaspora Studies and anti-racist education. As of 2025, McNeil is the inaugural Stuart Hall Interdisciplinary Chair at the University of Birmingham.

Early life and education Originally from Merseyside, England, McNeil has a B.A.H. from Oxford University. He earned an M.A. in History/Ethnic and Pluralism Studies from the University of Toronto, where he also received his Ph.D. in History in 2007.

Career and contributions McNeil is a Professor in the School of Social Policy and Society and the inaugural Stuart Hall Interdisciplinary Chair at the University of Birmingham.

Prior to joining Birmingham, McNeil was a director of the Oxford Access Scheme Summer School (2001-2), a lecturer in Black and Minority Studies at the University of Hull (2007–2010), a lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Newcastle University (2010–2012), and a research fellow at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation.

From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Visiting Professor at DePaul University.

From 2019-20, McNeil was the inaugural Public Humanities Faculty Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto. was the inaugural recipient of the Editor's Award from the Canadian Journal of Communication, and he has been invited to provide advice, consultation and lectures on multiculturalism and anti-racism to the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. He has also contributed to research handbooks that bring together the leading authorities on the most essential concepts, arguments, and research regarding multiculturalism from an international perspective.

McNeil is involved in public humanities projects, co-designing museum exhibitions, gallery events, and educational modules such as An Immigrant's Guide to Canada and Mapping the African Diaspora in Canada. Between 2021 and 2025, he received three Black Excellence in Mentorship Awards from Queen's University and the Stuart Hall Outstanding Mentor Award from the Caribbean Philosophical Association. In her review of the book, Antonia King regarded the book as "a necessary and innovative exploration of Black culture, Black disagreement, and debate."

Publications & Media outlets

Books McNeil, Daniel. Thinking While Black: Translating the politics and popular culture of a rebel generation. Rutgers University Press, 2023. Editor's Award, Canadian Journal of Communication (2022) Carleton University Research Prize (2015) for scholarly leadership and contribution to Migration and Diaspora Studies.