Candia Mitchell Hall is an emerging scholar in Caribbean Culture, History, Heritage, and Memory at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She is Lecturer of Caribbean Civilisation and Material Culture and Campus Coordinator of the multidisciplinary foundation course, Caribbean Civilisation situated at the Mona Campus, Western Jamaica Campus and tertiary centres in Jamaica and across the Caribbean including St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis.
Candia has been recognised for her excellence in teaching and has won notable awards for Teaching Excellence at the UWI, Mona Campus where she continues to shape minds on the experiences of Caribbean peoples from an insider Caribbean perspective inspiring students to dismantle and disrupt colonial narratives. At the Graduate level, she has supervised several graduates whose works focus on slavery, resistance, memory and heritage.
Candia’s academic sojourn began at the University of West. Indies, Cave Hill Campus in Barbados where she secured a Doctor of Philosophy in History with a strong emphasis on Heritage, the first of its kind and a Bachelor of Arts in History with First Class Honours.
Her groundbreaking dissertation on the Built Heritage of St. George’s explored the memories of Afro-Grenadians through the lens of the built environment, pioneering new perspectives in Caribbean studies.
An avid researcher, Candia is co-founder/chief researcher of CO Research Consultancy which is a private research-based enterprise offering archival research services to scholars, lecturers, government agencies, and businesses. Various institutions and scholars have benefitted from this research initiative including Professor Charles Carnegie from Bates College in Maine, USA who commissioned research on the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) of Jamaica and Professor Deborah Thomas from Pennsylvania State University who enlisted the company for research on the Kingston Pen Lands and USAID allocation to housing development in Jamaica from 1940 to 1980.
Her contribution to public and community outreach across the Caribbean has been quite significant. She has served as chairperson of the Grenada 50-50 Commemorative Independence Committee and Academic Planning and Programme Committee and holds membership in the Caribbean Studies Association and Grenada Diaspora Group etc.
A dedicated Caribbeanist and proud Grenadian, Candia has shared her research with audiences worldwide through conferences, television, radio appearances and with students studying CESC History. Additionally, she has delivered several keynote addresses, invited lectures and presentations on various topics related to Caribbean history, culture, memory, heritage tourism, heritage preservation and national identity where she underscored her commitment to advancing Caribbean and Grenadian scholarship.
Candia’s commitment to public scholarship and bringing her work to the people has contributed to the works she has published in journals, newspapers and short reviews. These include published works in the Journal of Caribbean History, for instance “Memory, Memorialising and Martyrdom in Post-Revolutionary Grenada” and journals like Caribbean Quarterly, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies etc.
Candia’s ongoing research focus delve into the histories of resistance, popular culture, revolution and national identity as part of a reparative approach agenda to think about the memories of Afro-Caribbean peoples across time and space.
Candia’s contribution to the academic and wider community is well aligned with the mandate of the University of the West Indies. Candia is carving out an important space for Grenadian and Caribbean scholarship, especially the aspects related to Reparative Memory, Heritage, History and Culture.
Candia, the CSA wish you well in all your endeavours and pursuits!