You graduated from HCU with your Masters in Liberal Arts. What first attracted you to HCU and this graduate program?
My undergraduate degree is an interdisciplinary Liberal Studies bachelor’s from Florida College, and when I began working, I had a desire to pursue a graduate degree at some point. After moving to Houston, a mentor told me about the MLA program at HCU, suggesting that the exploration of history and the great texts from a Biblical worldview would be an enriching experience. That was true beyond my expectations.
This will be your third year teaching for the Academy. What drove your initial desire to teach in the Academy, and what keeps you coming back year after year?
Two things: 1) The opportunity to continue what was so enriching about my undergraduate and graduate education—an immersion in the history and literature that shaped our civilization. 2) The relationships I get to develop with students as they interact with this important material at a time in their lives when they are starting to think critically about their faith and the world around them.
We’re looking forward to having you teach on HCU’s campus this year, but for the past two years, you have taught Academy classes at one of our partner schools. What do you think are some of the benefits of a partnership between the Academy and a local school?
It’s a way to extend the reach of The Academy’s mission to more students. When I ask my students at Logos Prep at the start of the year why they are in the class, many of them (honestly) tell me they are in it for the college credit. But by the end of the year, I believe most of them are walking away with a newfound appreciation for the history and literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
This year was a challenging one in many ways. What is one surprising benefit that came out of teaching during a pandemic?
When we first went “remote” in the spring of 2020, I felt like I got to know my students better because we were communicating more frequently, meeting virtually in smaller groups, and tackling a challenging situation together. Going into the 2020-21 school year, we had more tools available to us, enabling us to stay more closely connected as a class.
What is your favorite text to teach in the Academy and why?
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. On one hand, it represents the (under-appreciated) spirit of the Middle Ages—a view of the universe constructed by God with a deep spiritual order that points to His glory. On the other hand, it previews the best of the Renaissance—an honest exploration of humanity’s filth and virtue, particularly by showing what it looks like for the individual to journey from the darkness of sin to the brilliance of the Divine Presence.
Teaching isn’t your only job; tell us a bit more about your full-time vocation. How do you balance this work with teaching?
For the last seven years, I’ve worked as a preacher and Bible teacher here in Houston (currently with the Bellaire church of Christ). In some ways, I see it all as the same ‘vocation’—building people up through a deeper knowledge of God. The Bible is the most important pathway to that goal, but the texts we read in The Academy can serve the same goal in their own way. In terms of workload, it can be a challenge to fit in all that reading, writing, and prep, but my teaching at the church is almost exclusively done on weekends and evenings, so during the week I can mostly arrange my prep time and other appointments around my Academy schedule.
You’ve got a lot going on outside the classroom other than preaching. Tell us about some of the exciting things happening at the Broadwell house.
In January 2020, we adopted our son Asher, so he is coming up on being 18 months old. The last year and a half has been such a joy for us, and life right now is full in so many ways. We are thankful for our son, and thankful to everyone at HCU and Logos for supporting us and sharing in our joy. And for adjusting while we were in Arizona for three weeks when Asher was born.
What encouragement can you offer to new and returning Academy students?
Someone once told me, “We are all influenced by books we have never read.” The books taught in The Academy have all played their role in shaping our civilization and our culture — and yet most people have not read them. This is your opportunity to do what most people will never do. The reading and writing are intentionally tough, but if you engage fully, your Academy course will challenge you, stretch you, and fill you up so that you will be a better person by the end of it.
