Michael Springer, Ph.D.

Michael Springer, Ph.D., is a professor of history in the Department of History and Geography at UCO. His research and teaching interests focus on the refugee communities in 16th-century Europe, and more generally, on early modern European history. He has a special interest in the refugee communities in 16th-century London, which led to his first book on John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio. His research on this topic led him to join the Dutch Church Book Provenance Project, a collaboration between the Dutch Church in London, Lambeth Palace Library and the British Library. Each summer, he takes students to London to work on this project, which is researching the historical library of the Dutch Church. Any students wanting to take part in the project or know more about it should email him for more information.

In addition to his work in the department, Springer also serves as the faculty director for the Office of High-Impact Practices, where he promotes undergraduate research programs at UCO. He always is interested in speaking with students looking to get involved with undergraduate research experiences.

He also serves as co-executive editor for 1890: A Journal of Undergraduate Research, is an editor for H-German, and is an elected councilor to the Undergraduate Research Program Division of the Council of Undergraduate Research. 

• Ph.D., History, 2005, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Dissertation: “Church Building and the Forma ac ratio: The influence of John a Lasco’s Ordinance in Sixteenth-Century Europe.”
• M.A., History, 2000, Portland State University, Oregon. Thesis: “The English Exile Congregation in Emden: The Marian Exile Presses and English Protestant Culture.”
• B.A., Telecommunications and Film, 1991, Minor in History, University of Oregon.

My teaching interests include Renaissance and Reformation, Medieval and Early Modern Europe, German History, Tudor-Stuart England, Religious History, and Research Methods and Writing.

I have taught the following undergraduate and graduate courses at UCO:

• HIST 1112 Broncho Blueprint to Historical Inquiry
• HIST 1103 Early Western Civilization
• HIST 1203 Europe, Renaissance to Waterloo
• HIST 3113 Historical Research
• HIST 3383 The Middle Ages
• HIST 3483 Absolutism to Enlightenment
• HIST 4883 The Reformation, 1500-1648
• HIST 4910 Seminar: Topics – Toleration in Europe 1200-1800
• HIST 4910 Seminar: Topics – Early Modern Germany c.1450-1806
• HIST 4910 Seminar: Topics - Applied Historical Research
• HIST 4940 Applied Research
• HIST 4940 Field Research in London
• HIST 4970 Germany Study Tour
• HIST 4993 History Capstone Seminar
• HIST 5023 Graduate Colloquium
• HIST 5033 Readings Seminar: Print Revolution in Early Modern Europe
• HIST 5883 The Reformation, 1500-1648
• HIST 5773 Modern German History
• HIST 5910 Seminar: Topics – Toleration in Europe 1200-1800
• HIST 5910 Seminar: Topics – Early Modern Germany c.1450-1806
• HIST 5910 Seminar: Applied Historical Research
• HIST 5910 Seminar: Readings in Early Modern Europe
• HIST 5940 Applied Research
• HIST 5970 Germany Study Tour

Select Publications

Published Books and Articles

Springer, Michael S. “Politics, Community and Identity in the Formation of the Dutch Church Library in London, 1550-c.1650.” In The Book World of Early Modern Europe: Essays in Honour of Andrew Pettegree, editors Arthur der Weduwen and Malcolm Walsby. Leiden: Brill, 2022. Vol. 2, pp. 349-70.  

Springer, Michael S. “Community-Based Undergraduate Research in History and Humanities.” Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research 5, no. 3 (Spring 2022): 45.

Springer, Michael S. "Responsible Conduct of Research in the Arts and Humanities." In Training Undergraduates on Responsible Conduct of Research and Research Integrity. Julio Turrens with Michael S. Springer. Washington, DC: Council on Undergraduate Research, 2020.

Springer, Michael S. “How to Organize a Church: Johannes a Lasco on the Election of Ministers, 1555,” in A Sourcebook of Early Modern European History: Life, Death, and Everything in Between. Edited by Ute Lotz-Heumann. London: Routledge, 2019.

Springer, Michael S., John F. Barthell, Charlotte K. Simmons, Dana Jackson-Hardwick, and Gregory M. Wilson. “Broadening Campus Participation in Undergraduate Research through the Office of High-Impact Practices.” Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research 1, no. 3 (Spring 2018): 69-75.

Springer, Michael S. “Johannes a Lasco, a Polish and European reformer.” In Brill Companion to the Christian Tradition: The Reformation in Central Europe. Edited by Howard Louthan and Graeme Murdock. Leiden: Brill Publishing, 2015. ISBN 978-9-0042-5527-2.

Springer, Michael S. “Spiritual Authority and Ecclesiastical Practice: John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio.” In The Search for Authority in Reformation Europe. Edited by Helen Parish, Elaine Fulton, and Peter Webster. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4094-0854-3.

Springer, Michael S. Restoring Christ’s Church: John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-07546-5601-2.

Other Publications

Springer, Michael S. “Moving to a Multi-Mentor Model.” CURAH The Arts and Humanities Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (blog). October 18, 2019. http://curartsandhumanities.org /2019/10/18/moving-to-a-multi-mentor-model/.

Springer, Michael S. “Dutch Church Library Provenance Project.” A Monument of Fame: The Lambeth Palace Library Blog. June 28, 2017. https://lambethpalacelibrary .wordpress.com/2017/06/28/dutch-church-book-project/.

Springer, Michael S. and Mark Janzen. “TL Abroad: Applied Research in London.” Transformative Teacher-Scholar, and e-publication of CETTL (blog). August 7, 2017. http://blogs.uco.edu/tts/tl-abroad-applied-research-in-london/.

He also has several published book reviews in Renaissance Quarterly, The Sixteenth Century Journal, Church History, H-Albion, H-Net Reviews, Calvin Theological Journal, Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Dutch Review of Church History, and The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 

Select Presentations

Research Papers and Presentations (An asterisk '*' indicates a student co-author.)

Springer, Michael S. “Libraries and Political Power: The Early History of the Dutch Church Library in London, 1550-c.1650.” Western Conference on British Studies, September 2-3, 2022. [Paper Presentation]

Springer, Michael S., Charlotte Simmons, Liz Wallace, Kaylin Fisher*, and Mickey Loveless*. “Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Undergraduate Research: A Partnership between Diversity Peer Educators and Mentors.” ConnectUR, Council on Undergraduate Research Annual Conference. June 27-29, 2022. Washington, DC, USA. [Paper Presentation]

Springer, Michael S. “Community, Identity, and the Dutch Church Library in London, 1550-1650.” Oklahoma Research Day, March 3-16, 2022. Virtual. [Poster Presentation]

Springer, Michael S. “Teaching a Community-Based Global Research Course During COVID: Lessons Learned.” American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) Conference on Global Learning. October 7-9, 2021. Virtual [Poster Presentation]

Boettcher, Anne (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott), Julio Turrens (University of South Alabama), Lee Phillips (University of North Carolina Greensboro), Michelle Leonard (University of Florida), and Michael S. Springer (University of Central Oklahoma). “Research Ethics and Public Trust: Where We Are and Where We Need To Be In Undergraduate Education.” American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) 2020 Annual Meeting. January 22-25, 2020. Washington, DC, USA [Paper Presentation]

Springer, Michael S. “Archival Research and the Multi-Mentor Model: Engaging Undergraduates in the Dutch Church Book Provenance Project in London.” Sixteenth Century Society Conference. October 17-20, 2019. St. Louis, Missouri, USA. [Paper Presentation]. The paper was part of a session I organized and chaired on Engaging Students in Early Modern Research: Undergraduate Research in Archives Abroad.

Jackson-Hardwick, Dana, Michael S. Springer, Justin Quinn Olmstead, Jessica Sheetz-Nguyen, Randal Ice, and David Chapman. “Globalizing Undergraduate Research: A Global Competency.” Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) Network for Academic Renewal Conference on Global Citizenship for Campus, Community, and Careers: Crossing Borders and Boundaries. October 17-19, 2019. San Antonio, Texas, USA. [Poster Presentation]

Springer, Michael S., Katie Krumwiede*, and Cade Brewer*. “Student Research Using a Multi-Mentor Model: UCO and the London Dutch Church Book Provenance Project.” Biennial meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research Programs Conference: Building and Enhancing Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Programs. June 27-29, 2019. Columbus, Ohio, USA. [Poster Presentation]

Springer, Michael S., John F. Barthell, Charlotte K. Simmons, Dana Jackson-Hardwick, Tina Kirk, and Beth Anderson*. “Engaging Students in International Undergraduate Research Experiences in Curricular and Co-curricular Settings: Challenges and Successes.” Biennial meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research Programs Conference: Building and Enhancing Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Programs. June 27-29, 2019. Columbus, Ohio, USA. [Poster Presentation]

Springer, Michael S. “Student Research Using a Multi-Mentor Model:  UCO and the Dutch Church Book Provenance Project in London,” part of a Rountable on “Lost in Transatlantic Archives: Student Research and Pedagogy for a Global Century,” Southern Conference on British Studies, Birmingham, AL, November 2018.

Springer, Michael S. “Changing Hearts and Minds: Justus Menius, the Oeconomia Christiana, and Persuasion in the Reformation,” Midwest World History Association Conference, Edmond, September 2017.

Springer, Michael S. “Modeling the Way: John a Lasco, refugee churches, and the Forma ac ratio,” invited presentation for the “Johannes a Lasco: ‘I am a Stranger’” conference, Dutch Church, London, June 2016.

Springer, Michael S. “Clerical and Political Reform in the German Reformation: Justus Menius and the case for Godly Government,” Sixteenth Century Society Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 2014.

Springer, Michael S. “Godly Government in the German Reformation: Protestant Superintendents and Imperial Reform in the Holy Roman Empire,” at the conference on “Godly Governance: Religion and Politics in the Early Modern World,” Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, University of York, England, June 2014.

Springer, Michael S. “Secular Authority and the Church: The Debate between Justus Menius and Matthias Flacius Illyricus,” Sixteenth Century Society Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 2010.

Recent Honors and Awards

2020 Finalist for the Council on Undergraduate Research Arts and Humanities Division Mentor of the Year Award

2017 Faculty Member of the Year, College of Liberal Arts, University of Central Oklahoma

2017 Outstanding Service Award, College of Liberal Arts, University of Central Oklahoma