About Us
Drs. John and Helen Freeh are a Catholic couple who founded the Mother Rose Colloquia in 2022 to bring college-level humanities into cloistered monasteries. They live in Oro Valley, Arizona, and classically homeschool their three children.
Dr. John Freeh, BA, MA, MSJ, D.Phil.
John holds undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University, a master’s in journalism from Northwestern, and a doctorate in English literature from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Before the university classroom he reported for the Associated Press at The Cleveland Plain Dealer. He then taught literature and writing at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Gonzaga University, Hillsdale College (where he earned tenure), and Wyoming Catholic College, which he joined in its foundational years after leaving tenure at Hillsdale. He served as principal of JSerra Catholic High School in California and as inaugural director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
With Helen he co-founded Kateri College of the Liberal and Practical Arts, a proposed Catholic college of Great Books and trades that, unfortunately, was not able to come to fruition.
He is president of the Mother Rose Colloquia and lectures for monasteries, religious institutes, and lay groups including Legatus and Young Catholic Professionals.
Dr. Helen Freeh, BA, MA, PhD
Helen earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Dallas and her doctorate in English literature from Baylor University.
She has taught literature and writing at McLennan Community College, Baylor University, Hillsdale Academy, Hillsdale College, and Hozho Academy.
She left full-time teaching to raise and homeschool their children in a Catholic classical model.
She leads online seminars on Tolkien for the Albertus Magnus Institute and lectures for cloistered monasteries and days of reflection.
She has edited for Baylor University Press, St. Augustine’s Press, and the Catholic Schools Textbook Project. Her essays have appeared in The Catholic Thing and The Imaginative Conservative.
