Reid Weber, Ph.D.
Professor
About
Reid Weber, a native of Wisner, Nebraska (population 1,000), is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Philosophy. His winding path to Edmond, Oklahoma, has taken him from his B.A. at Wayne State College, Nebraska, to teaching English in the Slovak Republic, to an M.A. from Northern Illinois University and to his doctoral program in pre-modern history at the University of Florida. Other stops have included a Fulbright year in the Czech Republic, adjuncting at Polk State Community College outside of Orlando, Florida, and two years as a visiting professor at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts.
Weber’s research concerns cultural and religious history in the Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Periods, Upper division classes include Old Testament Humanities, Medieval Humanities, Humanities on the Silk Road, Witches, Women, and Religion, and Pagan Europe. He also is the faculty co-sponsor for the Medieval Society at UCO, a student organization that conducts historical research, experimental archaeology, living history, and public outreach. He reenacts and does educational talks in schools on both the Early Middle Ages and the American Civil War. To date, his crowning achievements are his multiple articles analyzing late medieval preaching, his wife and two daughters who somehow agreed to stay with him for ten nomadic years, and his massive Lego collection.
Weber has served as assistant chair in Humanities and Philosophy since fall 2019.
Classes Taught
University of Central Oklahoma
- Renaissance and Baroque Humanities
- Women, Witches, and Religion
- Pagan Europe
- Silk Road Humanities
- Medieval Humanities
- Old Testament Humanities
- The Long 15th Century: Society, Culture, and Religion
- General Humanities: Renaissance to Modernity
- General Humanities: Ancient to Medieval
Fitchburg State University
- World Civilizations to 1500, fall 2015/spring 2017; online summer 2016, fall 2016, summer 2017
- Topics: Shared World, Insiders and Outsiders in the Early Modern Period, Graduate Seminar summer 2017
- Topics: European Reformation, Graduate Seminar, spring 2017.
- The European Renaissance, fall 2016
- The French Revolution, spring 2016
- The European Enlightenment, fall 2015
Polk State College, FL
- Introduction to the Humanities fall 2014/ online spring 2015
- World History from 1500, spring 2015
University of Florida
- Writing for Research for McNair Honors Fellows, summer 2015
- Writing for the Medical Profession, fall 2014/spring 2015
- Writing in Business, fall 2014, spring 2015
- Argument and Persuasion, fall 2014
- European History 15001700, fall 2013
- Rhetoric and Academic Writing, fall 2012/spring 2013.
Research, Published Work, and Scholarly Activities
Peer Reviewed Articles
“Synagogue of Satan: Jan Hus, Preaching, and Jewish Allegory.” Kosmas: Czechoslovak and Central European Journal, Prague: Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, 2016, 27–43.
“‘A Priest’s Knowledge and Eloquence are a Gift from God:’ The Homiletic Self-Promotion of Jan Hus.” In “Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice Symposium 10.” Edited by Zdenek David and David R. Holeton. Special issue, The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 65, no. 2 (2015): 28–48.
Other Publications
Review: Lášek, Jan Blahoslav and Angelo Shaun Franklin. Hus Witness to Truth. In Church History. Forthcoming.
Review: Mazalová, Lucie. Eschatology in the Works of Jan Hus. In Austrian History Yearbook. Forthcoming.
Review: Fudge, Thomas. Origins of the Hussite Uprising: The Chronicle of Laurence of Březová. In Renaissance Quarterly. Forthcoming
"Slavic Paganism." In Religion and World Civilization: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to Present. ABC-CLIO. November, 2022.
"The Mongol State and Religious Toleration" In Religion and World Civilization. ABC-CLIO November, 2022.
"The Reformation and the Printing Press" In Religion and World Civilization. ABC-CLIO November, 2022.
Review: Van Dussen, Michael and Pavel Soukup. A Companion to the Hussites. In Church History. June 2021, 432-434.
Review: Soukup, Pavel. Jan Hus: The Life and Death of a Preacher. In Austrian History Yearbook, May 2021, 292-293.
Review: Perett, Marcela K. Preachers, Partisans, and Rebellious Religion: Vernacular Writing and the Hussite Movement. In Austrian History Yearbook, May 2020, 335-336.
Review: Fudge, Thomas A. Jerome of Prague and the Foundations of the Hussite Movement. In Church History. Forthcoming
“Jan Hus and the Beginning of the Hussite Movement.” In Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History. ABC-CLIO, Forthcoming.
Review: Philip Haberkern. Patron Saint and Prophet: Jan Hus and the Bohemian and German Reformations. In Theology. Vol. 120(2) 81-82, 2017.
Review: Lisa Wolverton. Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics. (Catholic University Press) In The Medieval Review. 2015. 15.10.47.
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr/article/view/20194/26284
Review: Fudge, Thomas A. Jan Hus: Religious Reform and Social Revolution in Bohemia. In Communio Viatorum, February 2012. Ed. Petr Sláma. Prague: Charles University and Thompson Rheuters, 211-15.
Review: Nicholas, David. The Northern Lands: Germanic Europe c.1270-c.1500. In Alpata: A Journal of History, Vol 7. Spring 2010, 68-69.
Teaching Philosophy
Social media, YouTube, and digital streaming fill the waking hours of modern college students. With curious minds, they devour online content and frequently bring it with them to class. I present students not only what they are unlikely to find on their own, but I work to give them an impactful experience that outlasts any amateur media content. I use a variety of techniques to inspire students to view my courses as more than simple trivia. Scaffolded assignments, roleplaying, scavenger hunts, digital manuscripts, and mock museum curation are just a few techniques that make my courses engaging, though I do not claim to be the sole innovator of any of these techniques. I especially take pride in my ability to motivate students to take their studies outside of the classroom, best exemplified by my work with the Medieval Society at UCO.
Rather than simply teaching skills or facts, I teach the stories and creations of people who followed their passions. Studying the broad humanities demonstrates what students can achieve outside the classroom. I frequently express to students that grades will only get you so far when applying for quality jobs or graduate school. What matters is the demonstration of one’s passions through action. In that way, interdisciplinary student organizations provide valuable, if admittedly quirky, ways for students to show off their talents and dedication to various disciplines outside of the classroom.
Office Hours
- Noon-2 p.m., Monday
- 11 a.m.-noon, Tuesday 1
- Noon-2 p.m., Wednesday
- By Appointment (Zoom optional)
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