Journal editorship led to exploration for students of history

Besides being a faculty member since 2000 and chair of the Department of History since 2012, Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Richard Weiner recently completed a five-year run as editor-in-chief of “Terrae Incognitae.” Published for more than 50 years by the Society for the History of Discoveries, the peer-reviewed academic journal covers the history of cartography, geography, and exploration.

When he began his leadership role with the periodical in 2019, Weiner had no idea how much his work would transform it and influence some of his students. But it did. Several PFW history majors served as editorial assistants or assistant book review editors. Some even co-authored articles, both bibliographical and longer interpretive pieces. Weiner also reached out to several former students to submit content.

“What I hope to do as a journal editor is to be able to provide opportunities for students,” Weiner said. “One thing I’ve liked about the journal and having this position is it’s enabled me to provide opportunities to students I would not have been able to otherwise. It’s training for them, and the hope here, too, is it will help them in their professional development.”

Because of Weiner’s efforts for his students and the academic research world, he has been named one of PFW’s Featured Faculty Award recipients for 2025 and will be honored with a reception Wednesday afternoon.

During Weiner’s tenure, the journal increased to publishing three times per year, maintaining the same amount of content in each issue, and increasing readership. Weiner also contributed editor introductions for each issue, highlighting specific articles or topics related to scholarship. The major focus during Weiner’s term was to help the publication try to be more cutting-edge while creating new ways of thinking about exploration.

A key theme Weiner implemented was reinvigorating the interest in exploration history, encouraging research into the roles of local hosts who may have guided famous European expeditions. Another strength was increasing the journal’s global connections with scholars engaged in significant research, which led to several impactful articles being published.

Currently, Weiner is completing a manuscript but has plans for his next major project where he hopes to create a new publication studying the relationship between Mexican and American scholars with students from both countries encouraged to participate. As Weiner said, each side often conducts important research without talking to the other, and he’s spent significant time in Mexico over the last 30 years and has established important relationships.

“The idea is that there isn’t that much of a dialogue or communication that goes on,” Weiner said. “The hope would be to be able to talk about more contemporary issues rather than just history and have different perspectives on the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

“Obviously, it’s gotten a lot more attention from the public in recent years, and I wondered what could be a unique contribution I could make to the discussion—and I didn’t see that much of a dialogue going on.”