Rate My Professor Elizabeth Weiser

Elizabeth Weiser is an Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor in Literature at The Ohio State University’s Newark campus, where she has taught since 2004, advancing from Assistant Professor (2004–2009) to Associate Professor (2009–2017), Professor (2017–2023), and Distinguished Professor (2023–present). She holds a PhD in English (Rhetoric and Composition) from Texas Christian University (2004), MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University (1999), MA in International Training and Education from American University (1989), and BA in Anthropology from the University of St. Thomas (1985). Previously, she served as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant at Hacettepe University in Turkey (1999–2000).

Weiser specializes in rhetorical theory and museology, examining museums as rhetorical sites that shape civic identities and national narratives through stories of communal pasts. Her monograph Museum Rhetoric: Building Civic Identity in National Spaces (Penn State University Press, 2017) draws on fieldwork from over 60 museums in 22 countries. Other key works include Burke, War, Words: Rhetoricizing Dramatism (University of South Carolina Press, 2008); co-edited volumes In the Classroom with Kenneth Burke (Parlor Press, 2023), The Fertile Earth and the Ordered Cosmos: Reflections on the Newark Earthworks and World Heritage (Ohio State University Press, 2023), Women and Rhetoric between the Wars (Southern Illinois University Press, 2013), and Engaging Audience: Writing in an Age of New Literacies (NCTE Press, 2009); plus dozens of articles and chapters. She is the sole American on the International Committee for Museology (ICOFOM) Executive Board and editor-in-chief of its publications. Awards include Ohio State’s Faculty Scholarly Accomplishment (2015, 2021), Service (2007, 2016, 2020), Teaching Excellence (2016), and Research Mentor (2019) Awards; Winifred Bryan Horner Distinguished Alumni (2019); and Kenneth Burke Society Emerging Scholar (2008). Her contributions extend to campus leadership as DEI Fellow and P&T Chair (2022–23) and the Newark Earthworks’ UNESCO designation.