UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1319 | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Submission information

Submission Number: 1319

Submission ID: 21191

Submission UUID: 9c361938-9fff-4a87-9f4d-1598eb77a927

Submission URI: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal

Submission Update: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=h4uvpTB_sGIWO3uMEt0FOApfa2bW9FLjOUIQPaNofbM

Created: Fri, 08/22/2025 - 01:32 PM

Completed: Fri, 08/22/2025 - 01:43 PM

Changed: Tue, 09/30/2025 - 01:01 PM

Remote IP address: 46.110.204.3

Submitted by: Anonymous

Language: English

Is draft: No

Webform: UROP Project Proposal Portal

Submitted to: UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal

Research Mentor Information

Primary Research Mentor Name Rebecca Ballard

Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns she/her

When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific? Dr.

Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) rebecca.ballard@fsu.edu

Position Title Faculty

FSU College (if applicable) Arts and Sciences

FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation English

Headshot (optional)

Additional Research Mentor(s)

Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above) {Empty}

Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns {Empty}

Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific? {Empty}

Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) {Empty}

Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable) {Empty}

Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns {Empty}

Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific? {Empty}

Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) {Empty}

Overall Project Details

Title of the Project Genre Frictions

Project Keywords science fiction, genre studies, social movements

Are you currently looking for research assistants? No

Number of Research Assistants Needed 2

Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) Humanistic majors/minors, or other majors with strong interest and background in the humanities

Project Location: On FSU Main Campus

If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation? {Empty}

Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): In-person

Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 5-10

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 My book project, tentatively titled Genre Frictions: Speculative Articulations of Environmental Justice, investigates how structural and environmental understandings of violence that began to emerge in the 1960s shaped both U.S. fiction and U.S. social movements from the 1970s to the present and shows how environmental justice has been articulated through the speculative. Each chapter explores how different forms of environmental harm and different moments of environmental justice created representational pressures that contemporary U.S. authors solved by turning to speculative genres (science fiction, magical realism, apocalypse, gothic) and using those genres to narrate everyday life. This year, I am submitting the manuscript for editorial review and awaiting reader reports. I am looking for research assistants to participate in the process of editing, revising, and preparing the manuscript, which may include copyediting, citation checking, supplemental research literature reviews, and indexing.

Research Tasks copyediting, checking quotations and citations, conducting targeted literature reviews for supplemental research for book and/or future projects depending on timeline, indexing

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Attention to detail: required
BASIC familiarity with library databases and academic research resources: required (further training and support to be provided)
Strong communication and organization skills: required

Mentoring Philosophy I see research assistantships as a collaborative relationship in which students not only help support my academic work, but also learn in a hands-on fashion about the process by which humanistic research enquiry proceeds. I structure research assistantships such that students scaffold up from simpler and supervised to more complex and independent inquiries, developing and pursuing their own research questions along the way.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable): {Empty}

Please add any additional information here (if applicable): {Empty}

Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable? Yes

Roundtable times and Zoom links {Empty}

Roundtable Info

Day: Friday, September 5
Start Time: 12:00
End Time: 12:30
Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98168539478

UROP Program Elements

Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes

UROP Performance Evaluation Yes

Materials Grant Yes

UROP Poster Presentation Yes

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Year 2025

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