UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1333

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: G. Kurt Piehler
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: Him
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Prof.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): kpiehler@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: History
Headshot (optional): {Empty}

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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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): Joel Barnes
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: him
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: Lt. Colonel
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): Joel.Barnes@afacademy.af.edu

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: The Antietam Project: Using Visual Evidence to Better Understand the American Civil War
Project Keywords: Civil War, photography, military history
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 2
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?: {Empty}
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?: 7-8
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:
This project led by Joel Barnes (Lt. Colonel, USAF) of the Department of History, U.S. Air Force Academy will assess the logistics available to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during his invasion of Maryland that culminated in the Battle of Antietam. Barnes seeks to draw on photographic evidence supplemented by documentary sources (letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper accounts) to assess whether Confederate soldiers went into the battle in 1762  ill fed, poorly clothed, and lacking boots. G. Kurt Piehler of the History Department at FSU will be co-investigator for this project and he is a former visiting professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy (2024-25). 

Research Tasks:
Drawing on the resources of the FSU libraries and other libraries,  research assistants will collect from printed and digital primary sources documents and images related to the Battle of Antietam  He/she will also develop a comprehensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources related to the battle (including visual sources).



Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Ability to write effectively and ability to think critically about evidence are absolutely essential.  Experience working with archival sources is plus. A willingness to learn how to read and transcribe cursive documents is important.  All majors are welcome, including history majors.



Mentoring Philosophy:
The ideal research assistant is able to take broad direction and work independently. During the semester, research assistants will meet with Piehler in-person weekly and virtually with Barnes bi-weekly. Both will offer guidance of how to conduct primary source research and oversee their research.  These meeting will also offer assistants insights of how historians make sense of a range of primary sources to write history. As a mentor, Piehler envisions a research assistantship as laying the groundwork for future internship and  graduate school and/or employment.  Piehler’s past research assistants have gone on to secure internships at the Smithsonian Institution, the Grove Museum, and the Florida state government. As an active-duty air force officer, Barnes brings to his scholarship the insights gained from serving in a war zone and engaging in ground combat. He can offer guidance to career paths in the U.S. Air Force, especially related to intelligence.

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)::
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
WEd.,  September 3, 2025 at 2:00-2:30 PM

https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98381726177?pwd=cd09QHFTZMfzdZSLGfypfeUlGcdGJb.1
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98381726177?pwd=cd09QHFTZMfzdZSLGfypfeUlGcd

Thursday, September 4 at 2:00 PM
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95882312959?pwd=ZduukhDSHxjSIJ1qIDKB9GbkUGzpvw.1



Roundtable Info:
- Day: Wednesday, September 3
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98381726177?pwd=cd09QHFTZMfzdZSLGfypfeUlGcdGJb.1
- Day: Thursday, September 4
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95882312959?pwd=ZduukhDSHxjSIJ1qIDKB9GbkUGzpvw.1

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: 2025
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=ilXlxdmhsiuJCSNpo7fyL6Svi1hejT7GithrdQXw7Z4