UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1392

Submission information
Submission Number: 1392
Submission ID: 22364
Submission UUID: 2f5d765d-8da7-4707-aad3-e884a704ca72

Created: Tue, 06/02/2026 - 01:32 PM
Completed: Tue, 06/02/2026 - 01:32 PM
Changed: Tue, 06/02/2026 - 07:46 PM

Remote IP address: 134.6.102.70
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
Primary Research Mentor Name Darian Abenes
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns She/Her
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Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) da23c@fsu.edu
Position Title Graduate Student
Are you and FSU employee? No
Faculty Advisor Name Dr. G. Kurt Piehler
Faculty Advisor's FSU Email kpiehler@fsu.edu
FSU College (if applicable) Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation History, German
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above)
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated)
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable)
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?
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Title of the Project Blurred Lines: Negotiating Race and Masculinity from the Interwar Period through the Occupation of Germany
Project Keywords African American, Soldiers, Germany, World War II, Gender & Sexuality
Are you currently looking for research assistants? Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) History
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation? No, the project is remote
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): Fully Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 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 investigates the evolving relationship between African Americans and Germans across the interwar period, World War II, and the U.S. occupation of Germany. While existing scholarship offer valuable insights, it tends to fall into two limitations. Current historiography often examines these periods in isolation rather than through a longue durée analysis that bridges the World Wars and occupation period. Within these segmented histories, scholars primarily focus on either race or gender. These studies will briefly note the relationship between the two categories of analysis, but their theses emphasize either shifts in racial boundaries or gender and sexuality.
Building upon these two historiographical trends, this project traces encounters between African Americans and Germans to reveal how war and military occupation catalyzed renegotiations of both racial ideologies and masculine identities. I tentatively argue that by integrating race and gender within a transnational wartime framework, this dissertation reveals how Americans and Germans renegotiated racial hierarchies and masculine ideals during and after the twentieth century’s two global conflicts. These shifts in power dynamics and reformulations of race and masculinity subsequently influenced the U.S. civil rights movement and American military culture and policy.
Research Tasks Research assistants will review primary source materials such as Black Press newspapers, Veterans Oral History interviews and digitized NAACP papers. Research assistants may be asked to provide transcripts of oral history interviews or translations of letters (if fluent in German).
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Fluency in German (recommended)
Mentoring Philosophy Trust is the cornerstone of my philosophy on mentorship, which requires a professional relationship built on open dialogue and goal setting. From the inception of a mentoring partnership, it will be critical to identify the research assistants’ goals and previous relevant experience. By assessing previous experience, the mentee will discuss their areas of strength with the mentor. Through this dialogue, the mentor and mentee can set a realistic baseline and goals for development through the research process using a strength-based approach. Through this approach, researchers will gain the confidence to make bolder inquiries while having the mentor serve as a safeguard. While participating in this program, researchers will receive formal and informal feedback regarding their analysis. The informal and formal processes ensure open dialogue between the mentor and mentee and cultivate a trusting professional relationship between both parties.
Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable? Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links
Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation Yes
Materials Grant Yes
UROP Poster Presentation Yes
Faculty Advisor Confirmation Yes
Are you interested in attending in a UROP Research Mentor Workshop Series? No
Year 2026