Program Overview

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University Programs

The university offers a wide range of programs, including short and online courses, undergraduate, postgraduate, professional, and research programs.

Subject Areas

• Archaeology and anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • English Local History
• Architectural history
  • Architectural History
  • History of Design
• Business and management
  • Business and management
• Data science, computing, maths
  • Data science, computing, maths
  • IT Systems Analysis and Design (Online)
• Diplomatic studies and law
  • Diplomatic Studies
  • Foundations of Diplomacy Pre-Master's Course (six months, full-time)
• Economics and politics
  • Economics and politics
• Education and study skills
  • Education
• Environment and sustainability
  • Environment and sustainability
  • Sustainable Urban Development
• History of art
  • History of Art
• History, including local and social
  • History
  • English Social and Local History
• Languages and cultural studies
  • Languages and cultural studies
• Literature, creative writing and film studies
  • Creative Writing
  • English Literature
  • Literature and Arts
• Medical and health sciences
  • Medical and health sciences
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • Evidence-Based Health Care
  • Health Research
  • Nanotechnology for Medicine and Health Care
• Music
  • Music
• Natural sciences
  • Natural sciences
• Philosophy
  • Philosophy
  • Practical Ethics
• Psychology and counselling
  • Psychology and counselling
  • Psychodynamic Counselling
  • Psychodynamic Practice
• Religion and theology
  • Religion and theology
  • Theological Studies
• Technology and AI
  • Technology and AI

Course Format

• Day and weekend events
• In-person learning
• Lecture series
• Online learning
• Professional
• Summer schools
• Weekly learning

Academic Credit

Many courses can be studied for academic credit, which means they can count towards a recognised qualification.

Undergraduate Programs

Certificates

• Archaeology
• Certificate of Higher Education
• English Literature
• History
• History of Art
• Theological Studies

Diplomas

• Archaeology
• Creative Writing
• English Social and Local History
• History of Art

Advanced Diplomas

• British Archaeology
• IT Systems Analysis and Design (Online)
• Local History (Online)

Pre-Master's

• Advanced Pre-sessional Course for Graduate Students (nine weeks, full-time)
• Foundations of Diplomacy Pre-Master's Course (six months, full-time)

Postgraduate Programs

Certificates

• Architectural History
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Ecological Survey Techniques
• Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Health Research
• Historical Studies
• Nanotechnology
• Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
• Psychodynamic Counselling
• Qualitative Health Research Methods
• Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care

Diplomas

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Severe Mental Health Problems
• Health Research
• International Wildlife Conservation Practice
• Psychodynamic Practice

Master of Studies (MSt)

• Creative Writing
• Diplomatic Studies
• Historical Studies
• History of Design
• Literature and Arts
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
• Practical Ethics
• Psychodynamic Practice

Research Degrees (DPhil)

• Archaeology
• Architectural History
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• English Local History
• Evidence-Based Health Care
• Literature and Arts
• Sustainable Urban Development

Master of Science (MSc)

• Applied Landscape Archaeology
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• English Local History
• Evidence-Based Health Care
• Evidence-Based Health Care Medical Statistics
• Evidence-Based Health Care Systematic Reviews
• Evidence-Based Health Care Teaching and Education
• Experimental and Translational Therapeutics
• Nanotechnology for Medicine and Health Care
• Surgical Science and Practice
• Sustainable Urban Development
• Translational Health Sciences

Professional Programs

Continuing Professional Development

• Business and management
• Cultural heritage
• Data science, computing, maths
• Diplomatic studies
• Education
• Environment and sustainability
• Medical and health sciences
• Nanotechnology and nanomedicine
• Philosophy and ethics
• Psychology and counselling
• Research methods and skills
• Technology and AI
• Urban studies

Research

The university has an active interdisciplinary research community, with a strong focus on the humanities and social sciences.

Research Community

Research at Oxford Lifelong Learning extends across the disciplines and is supported by a research culture that encourages interdisciplinary initiatives.

Research Areas

• Academic staff profiles
• Part-time DPhil programmes
• Research areas
• Research students

Research Forums

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Steering Group
• Lifelong Learning Pedagogies forum
• Research Ethics Colloquium
• The Vice-Chancellors Colloquium

Course Details

Soul Sisters 2: Women in the Early Church

Overview

Women are conspicuously absent from most church history books. Yet women made up at least half of early Christian congregations. This course looks at the women who have been hiding in plain sight in texts and archaeological evidence of the first five hundred years of the expansion of Christianity across the Mediterranean world and beyond.

Programme Details

• Course begins: 21 Apr 2026
• Week 1: Female priests, deacons and prophets: ministry and ordination.
• Week 2: Wives, widows, virgins: female embodiment.
• Week 3: Martyrs and monastics.
• Week 4: Matrons, scholars and pilgrims.
• Week 5: Christian empresses.

Recommended Reading

• The Early Church / Chadwick, Henry
• Band of Angels: The Forgotten World of Early Christian Women / Cooper, Kate

Certification

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford.

Fees

• Course fee: ｣180.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees.

Tutor

• Dr Susan Griffith

Course Aims

• To introduce students to a range of Christian women from the first few centuries CE, many of whom are often overlooked in historical surveys.
• The course will assess attitudes towards women and the roles of women in antiquity and early Christianity.
• Students will encounter narratives of women in primary sources and examine their participation in church and society.

Teaching Methods

Lectures on historical and cultural background combined with seminar-style discussions on primary sources.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to:

• be able to discuss the significance and contribution of key women from the early church;
• demonstrate awareness of attitudes towards women in the broader culture and the church of the period;
• have the tools to assess divergent scholarly opinions on the interpretation of Scripture and other early texts relevant to understanding the role of women.

Assessment Methods

This course is non-accredited, so there are no assessments.

Level and Demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at a first-year undergraduate level.