Meet Our Acquisitions Team

Photo by Dianne Wade

Aurora Bell      

I acquire nonfiction trade books about South Carolina the US South and scholarly books in rhetoric, literary studies, and food studies. My trade list includes, but is not limited to, narrative nonfiction about people and culture, select memoir, cookbooks and foodways, and nature and natural history. In rhetoric and communication, I acquire books about social movements, how rhetoric can help us understand the contemporary world, rhetoric of health and medicine, and global rhetorics. In literary studies I focus on 20th-century and contemporary literature, primarily American, frequently Southern. In food studies, I am looking for interdisciplinary scholarship that explores the complex meanings of food today and throughout American history.

I received my BA in comparative literature from New York University and am currently pursuing an MA in art history at University of South Carolina. Prior to moving to South Carolina, I worked at The Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton.

Series

• East-West Encounters in Literature and Cultural Studies
• Movement Rhetoric/Rhetoric’s Movements
• Understanding Contemporary American Literature
• Understanding Contemporary British Literature

Contact: aurorab@mailbox.sc.edu

Photo by Kim Truett

Ehren Foley

I acquire books in the fields of Southern history, Southern studies, African American studies, Native American history, and Atlantic world history, with a particular interest in studies of the Reconstruction-era United States, civil rights history, and the history of South Carolina. A core theme that runs through many of these lists is the evolving idea and definitions of American citizenship, identity, and belonging. I am also interested in studies of popular culture, especially where they intersect with issues of social justice. More broadly, I am drawn to compelling stories about the American South in many different forms, including memoir, creative non-fiction, and narrative history.  

I earned a BA in history from the University of Virginia and a PhD in US history from the University of South Carolina. My own interests focus on the history and public memory of Reconstruction, as well as the history of the American South more generally. Prior to coming to the press, I worked as a historian at the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office.

Series

• Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW)
• Cultures of Resistance
• Reconstruction Reconsidered

Contact: ehrenfoley@sc.edu

Photo by Abe Danaher

Michael J. McGandy

I acquire books on music as well books in the subfields of Veterans Studies and Armed Forces in Society. In the area of music, I focus on topics and musical forms associated with South Carolina and the larger American South. In the areas of Veterans Studies and Armed Forces in Society, my acquisitions concentrate on social scientific studies, using mixed methods, oriented to public policy impact. In addition, I am interested in projects on related topics such as international relations, U.S. foreign relations, and strategy.

Prior to arriving at the University of South Carolina Press, I was editorial director of Three Hills, the regional trade imprint of Cornell University Press. I have also worked in commercial publishing at W. W. Norton & Company, Rowman & Littlefield, and Macmillan Library Reference/Gale Group.

Contact: mcgandy@mailbox.sc.edu