Reenacting the Ages 

The Weber family has a unique pastime: dressing up in clothing from 1000 years ago to reenact life from the Middle Ages. Reid, Katie, and their daughters, Nina and Adella, enjoy sleeping in tents, eating medieval foods, and creating weapons from the 1500s. They also dabble in Viking and Civil War reenactment. In all cases, they enjoy time together while teaching others about the past. 

Reid and Katie met each other at a Civil War reenactment. They were just 17 years old when Katie’s uncle had invited Reid to dance with his niece. “I remember she was wearing a full hoop skirt. We danced the entire evening together,” Reid said, “until an officer cut in for the last dance.” They began dating and married a few years later. 

Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings and Legos 

Several childhood events had sparked Reid’s interest in history. While growing up in the 1980s, Reid and his two older brothers watched a British television show on PBS called Robin of Sherwood. It ignited their imaginations, so they made costumes, created wooden bows and shields, and recruited their cousins to be part of the Merry Band of Thieves. Although Reid’s brothers got to be the primary characters of Robin Hood and Little John, Reid enjoyed playing minor roles. 

Young Reid also discovered The Lord of the Rings trilogy and began collecting LEGO castles, which continued his interest in ancient topics. “All three of those events put me on a course to the Middle Ages,” Reid said. “What really clinched it was a Civil War reenactor who recruited me to join him. He became my mentor, and by the time I finished high school, I was doing classroom demonstrations and school talks.” 

A Career in Ancient History 

As a college student, Reid traveled abroad and studied a radical group of Hussites. “I went for the beer and stayed for the history,” Reid said with a laugh. “Prague is like a second home for me. It’s a fascinating and underexplored region.” 

Reid’s studies led him deeper into the field of medieval history, and now, Dr. Weber is the foremost expert on 15th Century sermons by Jan Hus, a Czech theologian. Dr. Weber has spent his career reading and interpreting Hus’s 900 sermons, written in multiple languages, in an effort to learn more about the early Church and the Reformation Movement. 

Dr. Weber was hired at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2017 and became the Department Chair of Humanities and Philosophy in 2024. He teaches courses on topics ranging from medieval Renaissance and Old Testament humanities to European paganism. “In higher education, students love what professors love, especially if they teach with passion,” said Dr. Weber. 

Bringing Medieval Times to Life 

One of his favorite projects is serving as sponsor for the college’s Medieval Society. Students agree upon an ancient history topic and dive deeply into it for a year. 

“We study it and then bring it to life for the Medieval Fair in Norman,” Dr. Weber said. “We make clothes, shoes and tools. We practice woodworking, blacksmithing and dancing. Last year we built siege weapons, including a working trebuchet (similar to a catapult). Next year, we are studying the Byzantine Empire.” 

Following the example of his own Civil War mentor, Dr. Weber encourages his students to increase their knowledge and then share it in forms of reenactment. “I don’t get dressed up in wool clothing to hide in the corner — it’s so that people will ask questions,” Dr. Weber said. “I’ve seen confidence built in my students and my own children, who are both going into history careers, as they moved beyond researching and began reenacting.”