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Charles W. Weber
Professor

On faculty since 1968

Office: Blanchard 208
Phone: (630) 752-5863
Fax: (630) 752-5294

Charles.W.Weber@wheaton.edu
Education

Ph.D. Modern East Asian International Relations, Colonial African History, Theory and Practice of Imperialism and Colonialism, The University of Chicago, 1982
M.A. African History, Modern European Intellectual History, The University of Chicago, 1979
B.A. History, Wheaton College, 1967

Certificate of Chinese Studies, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, 1988

 
Professional and Personal Interests

Dr. Weber's teaching and research is focused mainly on how African and Asian cultures have developed historically and how they influence the modern world. He is especially interested in how Christians have impacted these societies and the role Christians have played in the development of their national identity.

He enjoys traveling to various places in the world to observe other cultures firsthand, to experience the Church in these areas, and to introduce students to various places in Asia. His most rewarding teaching opportunities have been taking student groups to Asia as the May in Asia coordinator in order to introduce them to the excitement and challenges of this region. Dr. Weber incorporates experiences and artifacts from his travels into the classroom.

In 2005, he and his wife Linda enjoyed a sabbatical, teaching for two weeks in Thailand and researching in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Rome, London and Cambridge. In 2006 they accompanied a Wheaton student group to Thailand and Cambodia and the following three summers to China. In 2010, they plan to take a student group to East Africa. These trips provide opportunities to further study the historical and contemporary cultures of these regions.

Courses Taught

  • Topics in World History
  • World Civilization
  • East Asian History
  • African History
  • Contemporary World History: The Cold War
  • Church and Nationalism in East Asia
  • Cultural Development in China
  • Tradition and Change in China
  • Continuity and Change in Southeast Asia
  • Intercultural Encounters with China
  • Religion and National Identity in China

Membership in Professional Societies
  • American Historical Association. Lifetime member since 1968. Member of Local Arrangements Committee, 1986 and 1988
  • African Studies Association
  • Conference on Faith and History. Executive Board member, 1988-1993. Program chair on theme of "Globalization and the Historian's Craft," 1998
  • The Historical Society
  • International Association of Mission Studies
  • Midwest Fellowship of Professors of Missions. Secretary-Treasurer (1988 to 2004), Vice President (2005), and President in (2006)
  • Popular Culture Association
  • American Society of Church History

Research
Dr. Weber's main concern is working on a book-length manuscript dealing with the impact Asian Christians have had on the development of their nations in areas such as education, medicine, politics, society and religious life. He is also becoming more involved in matters of human rights and religious liberty in Southeast Asia and China.

Papers Published and/or Presented
  • Weber, Charles. "The Christian Union and the Anti-Opium Crusade: The China Inland Mission's Role in Combating this 'Great National Sin,'" Conference on Faith and History, Bluffton University, September 20, 2008.
  • Weber, Charles. "Religions of Chinese and Japanese Origin."  In New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, edited by Campbell Campbell-Jack and Gavin McGrath.  Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press, 2005.
  • Weber, Charles. "Daoism." In Dictionary of Contemporary Religion in the Western World, edited by Christopher Partridge. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2002.
  • Weber, Charles. "Mission Strategies, Anthropologists, and the Harmon Foundation's African Film Projects: Presenting Africa to the Public in the Inter-War Years, 1920-1940." Missiology: An International Review 29 (2001): 201-223.
  • Weber, Charles. "Togo." In Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, edited by Scott Moreau. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000.
  • Weber, Charles. "Christianity and West African Decolonisation, 1945-1960",The North Atlantic Missiology Project Paper #80. Currents in World Christianity, Henry Martyn Centre for Mission Studies, Cambridge University, June 1998.
  • Weber, Charles. "International Influences and Baptist Mission in West Cameroon: German-American Missionary Endeavor under International Mandate and British Colonialism." In Studies in Christian Mission, edited by Marc Spindler. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993.
  • Weber, Charles. "West African Church" In Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 2nd ed., edited by J. D. Douglas. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991.
  • Weber, Charles. "Conflicting Cultural Traditions in China:  Baptist Educational Work in the Nineteenth Century." In United States Attitudes and Policies Toward China: The Impact of Missionaries, edited by Patricia Neils. Armonk, NY:  M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1990.
  • Weber, Charles. "Protestant Mission Education in Nineteenth Century China." Evangelical Review of Theology, 14 (1990): 150-167.
  • Weber, Charles and Dean Rapp. "British Film, Empire and Society in the Twenties:  The Livingstone Film, 1923-1925." International Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 9 (1989): 3-17.
  • Weber, Charles. "An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Traditional Grassfield Divination Practices:  A Historical and Anthropological Account from the 1930s." Presented in panel entitled "Ethnomedical Systems in Sub-Sahara Africa:  A Cultural Perspective on Traditional Medicine and the Perception of Disease,"African Studies Center, University of Leiden (Holland), June, 1988.