UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1376

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Andrew K. Frank
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): afrank@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
Are you and FSU employee?: Yes
Will you be employed at FSU for the entirety of Fall and Spring semesters?: Yes
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Native American and Indigenous Studies Center and Department of History
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/22347/Screenshot%202026-04-21%20at%201.31.26%E2%80%AFPM.png

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): {Empty}
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Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}
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Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: The History of FSU and the Seminole Tribe
Project Keywords: History, Native American, University, Tallahassee
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 5
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?: 5
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 UROP project will explore how the relationship between Florida State University and the Seminole Tribe of Florida developed in the 1970s. When FSU first chose the name Seminole, it did so without consulting the Florida Seminoles. Today, the university and tribe have a partnership and friendship that is quite different and reflects decades of conversations and subtle and not-so-subtle changes. This project focuses on the 1970s, a time when the Red Power movement and changing mores in the US convinced many universities to move away from their use of Indigenous names. Florida State was different. During the 1970s, FSU leaned into the use of the Seminole name, It introduced of the Osceola/Renegade tradition, included Tribe members at various public events, and abandoned the use of headdresses in the homecoming court. Student researchers will look closer at these relatively well-known events and/or other more under-explored moments in order to rewrite this history. In particular, students will explore the role that the Seminole Tribe had in the transformation. In the process, students will grapple with issues related to tribal sovereignty and cultural appropriation.

Research Tasks:
original archival research, historical writing, and  historical analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
required: strong writing skills; recommended: some independent research experience in any field

Mentoring Philosophy:
My goal as a mentor is to teach early career researchers to draw upon their interests and expertise, follow the sources to wherever they lead, explore the unexpected, and ultimately develop original and thoughtful insights. Each student will be provided with a general framework of the history of FSU and the Seminoles (the conventional wisdom) so that they can begin their work, but this framework is simply a way of helping students ask their first and often overly-broad set of questions from an equally broad range of sources. Rather than starting with a specific topic that I chose, I hope that students find their topics in an open ended and organic way. I want my students to learn how to pivot when they face roadblocks, find alternate paths to discover sources that are often hidden, and to allow the sources themselves to reframe the questions that are posed. 

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: {Empty}
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
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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: 2026