Finding Greatness: Dr. Andrew Reeves
Author: News Bureau
Posted: Monday, October 17, 2016 2:48 PM
Categories:
Finding Greatness | Faculty/Staff | Pressroom | College of Arts and Sciences
Macon, GA
Full Name: Dr. Andrew Buchanan Reeves.
Title: Assistant Professor of History.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Medieval Studies, University of Toronto; Master of Arts in Medieval Studies, University of Toronto; Bachelor of Arts in History and English, University of Texas at Austin.
Describe your service to Middle Georgia State University and the community at large.
"I’ve got an ongoing research program. I try to help us understand how people in the European Middle Ages learned religious doctrines—which is a harder question to answer than you might think ninety to ninety-five percent of medieval Europeans were illiterate! In 2015, I published a book, 'Religious Education in Thirteenth-Century England,' which is, shockingly, about religious education in thirteenth-century England. (I’m not too imaginative in my titles.) I’m currently working on some research on how medieval priests got books of sermons: whether they might buy them or whether they’d be donated, where they’d buy them, and what notes they scribbled in the margins. A few months ago, I came across a marginal note about 750 years old: it said 'Whoever you are who eventually comes across this, stay, read, and weep. I am what you will be, and I was what you are. Pray for me, sinner.' There’s something chilling about someone who’s been dead for seven and half centuries warning you that you, too, will die!
"I also take an active part in the social life of the University. I assist Dr. Peter Gareis with the Student Tabletop Gaming Club and occasionally help out Dr. Sharon Standridge with the Anime Club. Of course, helping Peter Gareis out is often running Dungeons and Dragons games for the students of the Gaming Club, so it’s not entirely a sacrifice on my part! I’m currently working to set up a Cochran Campus branch of the History Students’ Organization so that we’ve got it ready for when we start offering a four-year history major for students on the Cochran Campusthis spring. Finally, I’ll be giving a talk at the MGA KnightFest coming up in October. Would you believe that the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones was based on not one, not two, but several different weddings from European history? Which ones? Well, to find out, come to my talk at the KnightFest!
"And of course, my great passion is my teaching. It’s really a delight to teach World History courses to students doing their survey classes. I think it’s especially exciting to teach students who may never take another course again get a flash of insight as to the origins of the institutions or practices that make our world what it is today."
What attracted you to a faculty/staff position at Middle Georgia State University?
"I’d say it was the collegiality that most attracted me to MGA."
What do you like best about teaching at Middle Georgia State?
"The collegiality that drew me here is still one of the major draws. There’s an incredible sense of community here. In addition, there’s the incredible dedication to our students and our teaching mission in general. We have so many amazing students and dedicated faculty."
In your opinion, what does it take for students majoring in your discipline to be successful these days?
"I’d say that it’s the ability to sift through competing pieces of evidence in order to be able to come to a concrete analysis about what happened and why it happened. Studying history is like being a detective, but with clues that are years, decades, or even centuries old! And these skills don’t just arm you for success in a history major: a diverse set of industries ranging from insurance to national defense hire history majors because of the values of these skills."
What would students be surprised to learn about you?
"I may not look like it, but I was a US Marine from 1994 to 1999, and not only that, I was a Korean translator for the Marine Corps!"