UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #802

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Sarah Fahmy
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: she, hers
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): sfahmy@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Fine Arts
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: School of Theatre
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/14636/sfahmy-headshot%201.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: The Butterfly Affect
Project Keywords: arts-based research, community-based research, theatre, performance, environmental science, climate, feminism, entomology, interdisciplinary art-science
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 4
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Open to all majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: Yes
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 5-7
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
The Butterfly Affect is an internationally acclaimed performance-based experience that supports participants to envision themselves as agents of change through experiencing a butterfly’s metamorphosis stages. This research is driven by the core belief that “if a dove is the symbol for peace, a butterfly is the symbol for change. Change is inevitable; making it beautiful is a choice.” It centers “affect” as a verb that recognizes continuous action and change. The Butterfly Affect invites individualized self-reflection on personal growth and transformation; wherein participants may recognize themselves as civic agents with the potential for social, political, and cultural impact, capable of co-creating an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able world for all.  
The Butterfly Affect has three prongs: (1) The immersive performance: a site-specific, guided experience that offers participants a contemplative invitation to reflect, dream, and imagine by wearing large-scale puppets to co-metamorphosize alongside a butterfly. (2) The Care Deck: an open-access digital self-guided resource featuring creative prompts to ignite our imaginations and inspire our bodies to rest, move, and emerge transformed. (3) Paper Doll Puppets: an interactive guided chance to play and experience transformation through hand-held puppets as conduits for their transformation, offering a nature-based, ecofeminist approach to systems of care towards women. 
This is a joint research initiative by the University of Colorado Boulder and Florida State University and is lead by Dr. Beth Osnes and Dr. Sarah Fahmy. It has been featured at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Parallel Event; has toured internationally around the US, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and Jordan; as well as being presented on at several academic conferences. 


Research Tasks:
• Write a literature review about ecofeminist practice, puppetry, and performance in public spaces to support the writing of a peer-reviewed journal publication.
• Design materials that advance the research’s scope to support different marginalized populations. You may self-select groups based on your research interests (for example: designing specific modules for first gen university students, or low income communities, or women in STEM, etc.). 
• Participate in facilitating and practice leading performance-based community-based research. 
• Take the lead on identifying and communicating with community partners in Tallahassee, and across Florida to facilitate performances of The Butterfly Affect.
• Advance existing assessment measures and contribute to designing new evaluation metrics of the projects.


Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Required:
• Be excited about exploratory research and open to learning about new forms of ecofeminist and performance work
• Be self-guided, trustworthy, reliable, and eager to share/ take ownership of your ideas to advance the research. 
• Be passionate about any or all of the following topics: environmental sciences, climate action, feminism, community-based research, puppetry, performance.

Recommended:
• Have conducted or are interested in community-based research and arts/performance-based methods. 
• Have experience in theatre, the performing arts, and/or puppetry.
• Have an environmental science or entomology background. 


Mentoring Philosophy:
My mentoring philosophy arises from my experience being a woman of color scholar and applied theatre facilitator who was raised as a Third-Culture-Kid. Whether I’m working with undergraduate or graduate students, my central focus is to celebrate students’ autonomous voices in a dynamic learning environment.  My research is on ecofeminist decolonial artvism in the Global South, specifically focusing on Middle Eastern North African performance and identities. As such, I am invested in cultivating intergenerational knowledge exchange circles where I can co-learn and un-learn alongside my mentees. I develop individualized mentorship plans with my mentees, to best serve their self-identified needs and goals and prepare them for a future as researchers. My aim is to cultivate responsive spaces where mentees bring their full selves into the research, and feel capable of intellectual risk-taking without fearing making mistakes. Above all, I firmly believe that education and research should be fun and soul-nourishing; and that everyone no matter of their educational background is a worthy scholar. 

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://www.thebutterflyaffect.org/
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
Please don’t be deterred by any of the research tasks, or the required/recommended skills. If you are curious about this work in any capacity, let’s chat! The research tasks will be allocated first and foremost based on your interest, engagement level, and capacity. 


Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
Wednesday September 4th from 2-2:30pm ET: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8826419924

Roundtable Info:
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2024
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