Past Speakers
(2026 Speakers Coming Soon)
Maria Brandell | 2025 Keynote Speaker
Do We Need Feminism? Exploring the feminine vocation to work with Mary Harrington and Edith Stein
Maria Brandell is currently a graduate student at Notre Dame earning a theology degree in Biblical studies - a wild world of textual analysis, and a far cry from her previous work at a Catholic political theology think tank called new Polity, located in Steubenville, Ohio. Maria graduated from Franciscan University with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Theology, and Catechetics. After teaching a few years, she joined New Polity as a fellow and intern, co-hosting a podcast series called “Politics of Gender” with Marc Barnes. She has spent several years discerning Dominican monastic life, and enjoys hiking, weight lifting, and running - and is (slowly!) teaching herself to play the mandolin.
Sarah Winter | 2025
Leaving the House: on Love, Longing, Mid-life Crises, and Hope in Exile
Sarah holds an MA in English from Wake Forest University as well as a Mlitt in Creative Writing from St. Andrews University in Scotland. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including Dappled Things, Cider Press Review, and the St. Austin Review. She lives in Kansas City with her husband five children. When she is not homeschooling, home-making, or merry-making with friends, she works on her “long fiction project” and plays the violin.
Mary Basola | 2025
Ever Ancient, Ever New: A Look at Christian Hospitality Through the Lens of Literature
Mary is a teacher and home educator with a background in liberal arts and education. She has a passion for literature, and in her spare time collects children’s literature and is a home-library consultant. She and her husband, Mark, along with their seven children, are parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Hilary Stroh | 2025
The Good, The Bad and the Just Plain Peculiar: Women's experiences as wives and mothers in 2,000 years of Christian history
Hilary is an independent scholar in the Kansas City area. Originally from Ireland, and educated in Ireland the UK, she works free-lance as a historian, a teacher, and a music journalist.