91传媒鈥檚 Neal inducted into Morehouse College鈥檚 MLK Jr. Collegium of Scholars
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜n assistant professor in Mississippi State鈥檚 Department of Philosophy and Religion is a recent inductee of Morehouse College鈥檚 Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars.
Anthony Sean Neal, who also is a Faculty Fellow in the university鈥檚 Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, was selected through recommendation by current collegium members, as well as demonstrated commitment to the principles and practices embraced by King.
Reflecting on the significance of the honor, Neal said, 鈥淭eaching at State and living in Mississippi have sharpened my interests as a philosopher even more to what grounds an inclusive community. King drew upon Jewish, Christian and Hindu insights to develop his understanding of a foundation that communities locked in violent conflicts could share, particularly where violence makes reconciliation seem utterly impossible.鈥
Holding a Bachelor of Arts in religion and philosophy from the Atlanta, Georgia, liberal arts institution, Neal is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to which King also belonged. It was through reading his fraternity鈥檚 history book and preparing for the college鈥檚 annual King Day ceremony and other activities that Neal said he came to appreciate the effect of King鈥檚 ideas on others.聽聽
A member of the American Philosophical Association and the Committee for the Status and Future of the Discipline, Neal is the former vice president and president of the Mississippi Philosophical Association. 91传媒 has hosted the MPA conference for seven of the last 10 years.
Neal is the author of two books on King鈥檚 mentor Howard Thurman. These works include 鈥淐ommon Ground: A Comparison of the Ideas of Consciousness in the Writings of Howard Thurman and Huey Newton鈥 (Africa World Press, 2015) and 鈥淗oward Thurman鈥檚 Philosophical Mysticism: Love against Fragmentation鈥 (Lexington Press, 2019). He also has written a number of articles, op-eds and reviews, and contributed to chapters in聽several texts.
Neal鈥檚 teaching and research interests include ethics, African-American philosophy and African-American religious experience. He holds an Associate of Applied Science degree from the former State Technical Institute at Memphis and Master of Divinity in philosophical theology from Mercer University in Georgia. He also earned a doctorate in humanistic inquiry with an emphasis in African-American philosophy and religion from Clark Atlanta University.
Rick Travis, dean of 91传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science and public administration, said this honor is 鈥渞ichly deserved by Dr. Neal as a person who is making a difference in this community.鈥
鈥淟ike Howard Thurman, the subject of much of his research, Dr. Neal works at the intersection of philosophy, religion and social justice studies. We are fortunate to have him at 91传媒 as the blending of these interests helps to foster an interdisciplinary richness that is evident in his research, teaching and mentorship of students,鈥 Travis said.
Professor and Head John Bickle said Neal has had a significant impact on the intellectual life of the Department of Philosophy and Religion since joining the 91传媒 faculty in 2016. Neal鈥檚 Collegium of Scholars induction is 鈥渁 huge and very well-deserved honor,鈥 Bickle said.
鈥淒r. Neal has become a noted figure nationally in his field, and his teaching contributions here at 91传媒 have likewise been huge,鈥 he said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 highly in demand not only for his philosophy and religion courses, but also for his offerings to the Shackouls Honors College and the African-American Studies program. He鈥檚 been active in the public philosophy movement, publishing op-ed pieces in newspapers explaining the importance of philosophy for everybody.鈥
Bickle continued, 鈥淲ith two books already in his published corpus, along with numerous journal articles and book chapters, I very much look forward to the future directions of his research.鈥
91传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.聽Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences and the philosophy and religion department can be found at or .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .