Dr. Bronwen McShea uncovers the rich but often forgotten history of Catholic women in the arts and sciences, showing how figures from late antiquity through the early modern period—nuns, scholars, patrons, and university professors—have long made serious intellectual and cultural contributions within the Catholic tradition.

This lecture was given on October 16th, 2025, at The United States Naval Academy.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Bronwen McShea is a historian of Catholicism from medieval to modern times and is the author of three books: Women of the Church: What Every Catholic Should Know (Ignatius Press, 2024); La Duchesse: The Life of Marie de Vignerot, Cardinal Richelieu's Forgotten Heiress Who Shaped the Fate of France (Pegasus Books, 2023); and Apostles of Empire: The Jesuits and New France (Nebraska Press, 2019). Her reviews, articles, and essays have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, First Things, America Magazine, The Journal of Religious History, and many other popular and academic periodicals. She has held research and teaching positions at Columbia University, Princeton University, Loyola University Chicago, and several other institutions. She holds a Ph.D. in Early Modern History from Yale University and both an M.T.S. in the History of Christianity and B.A. in Intellectual History from Harvard University.

Keywords: Catholic Women And Scholarship, Catholic Women In Science, Early Modern Catholic Women, Hildegard Of Bingen, Laura Bassi And Bologna, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Medieval Nuns And Learning, Renaissance Humanism, Women Of The Church

Catholic Women in the Arts & Sciences: An Underappreciated Tradition – Dr. Bronwen McShea

The Thomistic Institute