Senior Leadership
The Staff
Blair LM Kelley
Director, Southern Futures
Blair LM Kelley, Ph.D. is an award-winning author, historian, and scholar of the African American experience. A dedicated public historian, Kelley works to amplify the histories of Black people, chronicling the everyday impact of their activism. Kelley is currently the Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the incoming director of the Center for the Study of the American South, the first Black woman to serve in that role in the center’s thirty-year history.
Jordan Lovejoy
Assistant Director, Southern Futures
jlovejoy@unc.edu
Jordan Lovejoy is an American Council of Learned Societies Emerging Voices Fellow and Visiting Instructor of American Studies and Folklore at UNC Chapel Hill. She holds a PhD in English with an interdisciplinary specialization in folklore from The Ohio State University. Lovejoy is interested in environmental folklife, engaged ethnography, and literature and artistic expression of Appalachia and the American South. Read more about her work [...]
Hallie Brew
Research and Engagement Coordinator
hcbrew@unc.edu
Hallie Brew is an undergraduate in the American Studies Department in the College of Arts & Sciences.She collaborates with the Center’s team to plan, develop, and coordinate programming, with an emphasis on fostering critical conversations regarding the American South. She partners with community and campus groups with shared goals to expand the Center's outreach.
Agustin Orozco
Programming Analyst
aorozco@unc.edu
Agustin Orozco is an undergraduate in the Neuroscience & Psychology Department in the College of Arts & Sciences. He utilizes data-driven insights to enhance programming for undergraduates in the Southern Futures Fellowship program. He assists with media content and supports mentorship & networking opportunities, all while continuously measuring performance for improvement.
Tony Royle Jr.
Coordinator of Student Research and Mentorship
tony_royle@unc.edu
Tony Royle is a PhD Student in the American Studies Department at the College of Arts & Sciences. He is responsible for guiding the fellows within the Southern Futures Fellows Undergraduate Program and facilitating their growth as researchers within their communities. Tony provides valuable support in the development of their research projects, nurturing their skills and helping them become effective contributors to community-engaged scholarship.