Alumna Spotlight: Jennifer Atwood (BA, ‘11)
Jennifer Atwood’s journey to her calling began with a simple curiosity about the past. What started as a dream to become a museum curator turned into a passion for great books. Now a teacher at The Academy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma City, Atwood credits Baylor’s Honors College with shaping her approach to teaching and learning.
“I came to Baylor as a museum studies and history double major, thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” Atwood said. “But then I signed up for a First Year Seminar through the Honors Program, and everything changed.”
The course, “Platonism and Poetry,” taught by Sarah-Jane Murray, Ph.D., explored how Plato’s Timaeus influenced medieval romance literature. Atwood initially signed up because the course description mentioned a trip to the rare books room.
“I thought, ‘Real old stuff? I’m in,’ but I had no idea that the course would change the course of my life,” Atwood said. “Dr. Murray emphasized that we weren’t taking the course for a grade or for the credit but to be shaped by the material. It really changed how I viewed the world and opened my eyes to medieval texts as a way to view the world.”
After graduating from Baylor with majors in great texts and museum studies, Atwood pursued her master’s degree at the University of Oxford in Medieval Studies.
“Being at Oxford was like living in history,” Atwood said. “One of the beauties of being a medievalist at Oxford is that it is a medieval university. The streets you walk, the buildings you pass by, and the manuscripts in the library are from the time period I was studying. It was an incredible experience.”
Following her time at Oxford, Atwood worked in museum curation, gaining hands-on experience with medieval manuscripts for a private collection in Oklahoma City.
“Museum work allowed me to engage with history in a tangible way,” she said. “I loved contributing to the preservation of knowledge. The manuscripts I worked with had been cared for by many hands over centuries, and it was a privilege to continue that stewardship, ensuring more people could learn from those texts.”
It was because of her love for sharing knowledge that Atwood decided to pursue a new career in teaching at The Academy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma City.
“Museum curation and classical education have the same mission of conserving and communicating knowledge,” Atwood said. “Classical education says these books and these ideas are worth being passed on, and now I get to use all of my training to make medieval literature come alive for my students so that they can pass on these texts to the next generation.”
Looking back, Atwood sees her time at Baylor as the foundation for her career.
“I see myself as a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants,” she said. “When I stand in front of my students, I try to channel the experience I had in my Great Texts classes—reading Dante and feeling the passion my professors brought to the material—and pass that same enthusiasm on to my students. That’s the goal I strive for every day.”
Her journey, from studying at Baylor and Oxford to her work in museum curation and teaching, has been defined by a love of learning and a desire to share it with others.
“The Honors College taught me how to think deeply and engage in conversation in a way that moves you closer to truth,” Atwood said. “My time at Baylor is when I learned to love Dante and Boethius, and it is because of teachers like Dr. Murray and Dr. Scott Moore that I fell in love with those texts. It’s a joy to try and channel their passion and share my love of these inspired texts with my students every day.”