The Conversion of Mary Magdalene (c. 1545-1548). Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London (Wikimedia Commons)

What if the story of early Christianity were told through the women who built it, preached it, and sometimes died for it? This course invites you on a journey through the dramatic, surprising, and deeply human stories of the women who helped shape the earliest centuries of the Christian world. From Mary Magdalene preaching resurrection to Perpetua facing lions in a Roman arena, from the philosopher Macrina guiding her brother Gregory of Nyssa, to Queen Bertha of Kent introducing Christianity to early England—each week uncovers a new life that changed history.

Together, we’ll read their words (and the words written about them), explore art and archaeology, and debate big questions about faith, gender, and power. What did it mean to be a woman with spiritual authority in a world that often denied it? How did early Christian women turn homes into monasteries, journeys into pilgrimages, and personal conviction into movements that reshaped empires? This series is designed for students who love history, literature, theology, or simply good stories. Expect lively discussion, close reading, and creative connections between ancient texts and modern ideas about belief and identity.