Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Courses

History

Courses & Events

This course will look at the military history of the second year of the American Civil War. It will address military operations in Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere that took place in 1862, as well as the strategic and political contexts that shaped their conduct. It will also look at the leaders, such as George McClellan, Robert E. Lee, Braxton Bragg, and Ulysses S. Grant, whose decisions and leadership shaped the course, conduct, and outcome of the year's great campaigns.

Instructor Ethan S. Rafuse received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. His publications include From the Mountains to the Bay: The War in Virginia, January-May 1862, guides to the Antietam, Manassas, and Petersburg battlefields, and U.S. Presidents During Wartime.


April 24, 2025 to May 8, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person
New Year's Eve 1970, Paul McCartney initiated legal action that led to the demise of the Beatles and their amazing era of creative music. Was music innovation dead or was 1971 the beginning of a renaissance? Many record labels were open to creative singer/songwriters experimenting with production techniques that laid the groundwork for disco, punk, indie, new wave, and electronica. All the while, introducing some pretty good sounds. Come join the conversation.

Instructor Bio: Steve Lopes, AE, BA, MA, M Ed, was an educator for 15 years prior to 30years of advocating for teachers as a Kansas-NEA organizer. He enjoys researching Rock 'n' Roll history and sharing it with Osher participants.


This course contains no sessions
Click here to be notified about the next scheduled program.
New Year's Eve 1970, Paul McCartney initiated legal action that led to the demise of the Beatles and their amazing era of creative music. Was music innovation dead or was 1971 the beginning of a renaissance? Many record labels were open to creative singer/songwriters experimenting with production techniques that laid the groundwork for disco, punk, indie, new wave, and electronica. All the while, introducing some pretty good sounds. Come join the conversation.

Instructor Bio: Steve Lopes, AE, BA, MA, M Ed, was an educator for 15 years prior to 30years of advocating for teachers as a Kansas-NEA organizer. He enjoys researching Rock 'n' Roll history and sharing it with Osher participants.


This course contains no sessions
Click here to be notified about the next scheduled program.

Text Box: Sources of Country Music by T.H. BentonWe'll examine three often- overlooked conflicts in our nation's history. First, we'll focus on the undeclared 1798-1800 Quasi War with France. This maritime conflict was significant as the fledgling American Navy's baptism of fire against a foreign power, Revolutionary France. Then we'll review the American Navy's second serious conflict - the war against the Barbary States (1801-1805) when President Thomas Jefferson ordered a naval expedition to the Mediterranean to curb piratical activities. Finally, we'll focus on the Spanish- American War, a four-month war with Spain that launched America as an international power and made national heroes of Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders."


Instructor Bio: Robert Smith, Ph.D., is the recently retired director of the Fort Riley Museum. He has a doctorate in history from KSU and has published numerous articles on military history.


March 25, 2025 to April 8, 2025, Brewster Place In Person

Text Box: Sources of Country Music by T.H. BentonWe'll examine three often- overlooked conflicts in our nation's history. First, we'll focus on the undeclared 1798-1800 Quasi War with France. This maritime conflict was significant as the fledgling American Navy's baptism of fire against a foreign power, Revolutionary France. Then we'll review the American Navy's second serious conflict - the war against the Barbary States (1801-1805) when President Thomas Jefferson ordered a naval expedition to the Mediterranean to curb piratical activities. Finally, we'll focus on the Spanish- American War, a four-month war with Spain that launched America as an international power and made national heroes of Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders."


Instructor Bio: Robert Smith, Ph.D., is the recently retired director of the Fort Riley Museum. He has a doctorate in history from KSU and has published numerous articles on military history.


March 25, 2025 to April 8, 2025, Brewster Place Event Center In-Person
This course will be a brisk survey of 15 major figures in the history of music in the United States, representing genres of both classical and various types of popular music: William Billings, Stephen Foster, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, John Philip Sousa, Amy Beach, George M. Cohan, Florence Price, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Leonard Bernstein, Miles Davis, and Elvis Presley.

Bio: Paul Laird is Professor of Musicology at the University of Kansas, where one of his teaching specialties is music of the United States. He has published widely on such topics as Leonard Bernstein and American musical theater and won the 2021 KU Chancellor's Club Career Teaching Award. Laird has taught many Osher classes since the program's inception at KU.


February 24, 2025 to March 10, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online

The Yangtze, the Rhine, the Colorado. Worldwide, some rivers are drying up, while other rivers are flooding. Commerce and industry are impacted. Food and water shortages are beginning. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying. Our plan to thwart climate change is scheduled to take 30 years. The platform for a panic is set. Will panic ensue in the next 5 years?


Instructor Bio: Charles "Chick" Keller is a retired senior executive and retired professor. He worked 15 years at each Sprint, and Black and Veatch in strategic planning and strategic marketing raising to the VP level both times. In 2000 Chick began a career as a professor at the University of Kansas, Master of Engineering Management program where he taught Finance and Strategic Planning.


April 21-28, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
The 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence is in 2025. We will look at the history, the signers, and how the document has changed other nations as well. The great experiment in history has stood the test of time under many pressures in American History. Join us as we also look the the Broadway play 1776 and events that unfolded that month of July in 1776 and after. 

Instructor Bio: Russ Hutchins teaches U.S. history, Western civilization, economics, business, philosophy, and business management at Friends University. He is a retired public-school administrator and educator.


March 24, 2025 to April 7, 2025, Zoom Facilitated Sessions
Long-time Osher instructor Marlene Katz once again brings history to life in her unique classes centered around famous women throughout history. This semester, Marlene is bringing the stories of three women who were influential in very different ways: Queen Elizabeth II, Sarah Cannon, better known at Minnie Pearl, and Bess Truman. Marlene will bring the lives of these amazing women to Osher through a combination of biographical facts and engaging story-telling.

Instructor Bio: Marlene Katz, a graduate from the University of Missouri, was an adjunct professor at UMKC, where she taught English and literature. Marlene has a 28-year teaching career and has been involved in storytelling for 20 years. Women in history is her specialty and Marlene has performed in a five-state area and has lectured at various groups, often in costume and speech of the character she is portraying.


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, Claridge Court In Person
Long-time Osher instructor Marlene Katz once again brings history to life in her unique classes centered around famous women throughout history. This semester, Marlene is bringing the stories of three women who were influential in very different ways: Queen Elizabeth II, Sarah Cannon, better known at Minnie Pearl, and Bess Truman. Marlene will bring the lives of these amazing women to Osher through a combination of biographical facts and engaging story-telling.

Instructor Bio: Marlene Katz, a graduate from the University of Missouri, was an adjunct professor at UMKC, where she taught English and literature. Marlene has a 28-year teaching career and has been involved in storytelling for 20 years. Women in history is her specialty and Marlene has performed in a five-state area and has lectured at various groups, often in costume and speech of the character she is portraying.


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, Claridge Court In Person
Gnosticism is a type of spirituality that describes visions of spiritual dimensions beyond our earthly existence. The Greek word "gnosis" translates roughly as "knowledge," "awareness," and "science." It generally refers to personal, experiential knowledge rather than intellectual knowledge from reasoning or accumulation of information. The forms of spirituality referred to as "Gnostic" involve purported knowledge of spiritual dimensions, angels, creation, the nature of humanity and other religious themes based on personal visions or encounters with divine beings. This course will explore examples of Gnostic literature, including early Christian Gnosticism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead and th3 writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. 

Instructor Bio: James Gaither, Th.D., holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Kansas and Th.D. from Holos University Graduate Seminary. For over 25 years he has taught courses in history of Western thought, world religions, metaphysics and ethics and is currently a "semi-retired."


April 23, 2025 to May 7, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
This class will examine three relatives of the instructor who served in the U.S. Army in World War I and II-and a fourth soldier (unrelated) who fought for the Confederacy. Each had a remarkable wartime story that had been largely forgotten. We'll see how in each case a single clue led to an understanding of their experiences and the sacrifices they endured, and a surprising discovery at the end of each search. 

Learn about the search for the forgotten story behind the photos, the letters, and the envelope to discover the "rest of the story" aspect. This class is not a full genealogical study, biographical work or military history but has aspects of each. Primarily, it is a glimpse into the process of discovering information with limited resources (online, archives, publications) when there's very little to start with or go on. Many records are lost or never existed, but enough remain that these four common "lost" soldiers are no longer entirely forgotten.

Instructor Bio: Kevin Boatwright is emeritus director of external affairs in the KU Office of Research. He has a bachelor's degree in English and master's degrees in journalism, history and higher education administration. He studied Canadian history at the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Manitoba, and is a past president of the Midwest Association for Canadian Studies.


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
June 12-26, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping enslavement in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York. We'll explore his life in enslavement, look at his autobiographies and other writings; and conclude with his life in Washington, D.C. as an elder statesman.

Instructor Bio: Paul Post, a native Kansan, received a B.A. in History from KSU and a law degree from the KU Law School in 1974. Now retired from the practice of law, he is a member of the Topeka Landmarks Commission and was Commission Vice Chair in2018. He has authored essays on the history of SBA Hill/ former Menninger Campus in Topeka; Topeka's Bates Family; The Fred Harvey Company; and on Duke Ellington


June 2-16, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping enslavement in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York. We'll explore his life in enslavement, look at his autobiographies and other writings; and conclude with his life in Washington, D.C. as an elder statesman.

Instructor Bio: Paul Post, a native Kansan, received a B.A. in History from KSU and a law degree from the KU Law School in 1974. Now retired from the practice of law, he is a member of the Topeka Landmarks Commission and was Commission Vice Chair in2018. He has authored essays on the history of SBA Hill/ former Menninger Campus in Topeka; Topeka's Bates Family; The Fred Harvey Company; and on Duke Ellington


June 2-16, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person

The Gilded Age (1876-1896) was a time of unprecedented American industrial expansion, which generated powerful corporate empires, rising inequality, violent worker-management clashes, Populist discontent in farm states like Kansas, as well as remedies ranging from "free silver" to socialism. During the Progressive Era (1900-1916), Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson helped promote more modest reforms, such as "trust busting" laws and court rulings, the Federal Reserve System, and Meat Inspection Act. Were people like Andrew Carnegie "captains of Industry" or "robber barons"? We tackle this and other questions by examining conflicting viewpoints as well as film clips from historical documentaries.


Instructor Bio: Carl Graves, Ph.D., holds a master's degree in US history from KU and a doctorate from Harvard. He taught at the university and community college levels, and at Kansas City's Pembroke Hill School.


March 26, 2025 to April 9, 2025, McCrite Plaza Topeka - In Person

The Gilded Age (1876-1896) was a time of unprecedented American industrial expansion, which generated powerful corporate empires, rising inequality, violent worker-management clashes, Populist discontent in farm states like Kansas, as well as remedies ranging from "free silver" to socialism. During the Progressive Era (1900-1916), Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson helped promote more modest reforms, such as "trust busting" laws and court rulings, the Federal Reserve System, and Meat Inspection Act. Were people like Andrew Carnegie "captains of Industry" or "robber barons"? We tackle this and other questions by examining conflicting viewpoints as well as film clips from historical documentaries.


Instructor Bio: Carl Graves, Ph.D., holds a master's degree in US history from KU and a doctorate from Harvard. He taught at the university and community college levels, and at Kansas City's Pembroke Hill School.


March 26, 2025 to April 9, 2025, McCrite Plaza Topeka - In Person

German is the most prevalent language after English and Spanish spoken at home in 77 counties in Kansas. Since 1854, thousands of German-speaking immigrants have sought better lives here, including Pennsylvania Dutch, Volga Germans, Mennonites, Austrians and Swiss. German churches dot the prairie, and some rural Kansans still speak a dialect of German.


Instructor Bio: William Keel, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of German at KU, having taught the history and culture of German settlements in Kansas and Missouri.


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, Brandon Woods Smith Center In-Person

German is the most prevalent language after English and Spanish spoken at home in 77 counties in Kansas. Since 1854, thousands of German-speaking immigrants have sought better lives here, including Pennsylvania Dutch, Volga Germans, Mennonites, Austrians and Swiss. German churches dot the prairie, and some rural Kansans still speak a dialect of German.


Instructor Bio: William Keel, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of German at KU, having taught the history and culture of German settlements in Kansas and Missouri.


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, Brandon Woods Smith Center In-Person

This class looks at the emergence and transformation of the American health care system as it faced challenges such as shifts in the nature of disease, unequal access to medicine, and escalating medical costs. We'll examine medical and scientific discoveries of the 19th century and study the challenges to organized medicine that began in the 1960s as well as discuss contemporary health care issues.


Instructor Bio: Shirley Hill holds a doctorate degree in sociology and was a professor at the University of Kansas until she retired in 2017. She has written several books and has taught classes in medical sociology, social inequality, and families.



April 23, 2025 to May 7, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online

The class will examine the first Congress to the present day on how productive they were in passing legislation to make America what it is today. How the Congress will work with the President and Supreme Court will be discussed. Sometimes the Congress was very productive in getting states added to the country, the expansion of civil rights, and fighting wars. Other times a stalemate over political ideas and conflicts with the President and Court. Deadlock versus full cooperation will be discussed. We will look at each President and Congress and see the progress and lack of progress as the country moves forward from 1791 to 2025. Join us for a trip to explore the Acts of Congress.


Instructor Bio: Russ Hutchins teaches U.S. history, Western civilization, economics, business, philosophy, and business management at Friends University. He is a retired public-school administrator and educator. 




April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, Zoom Facilitated Sessions

J.R.R. Tolkien, the greatest fantasy writer of the 20th century, drew profound inspiration from medieval northwestern European literature for his works, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. This course explores the ancient literary influences on Tolkien, such as "Beowulf," the Icelandic "Njal's Saga," the legend of King Arthur and Merlin, the Irish epic "The Táin," and "The Romance of Tristan and Iseult." We'll also delve into Tolkien's life, his fascination with languages, his WWI experiences, and themes like riddles, runes, vows, curses, valkyries, and quests. Familiarity with "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings" is helpful but not required, as we'll use audio excerpts and videos to understand the legends that inspired Tolkien's work.


Instructor Bio: Vic Peterson is the author of "The Berserkers" (Hawkwood 2022/Recital 2023), set in a fictional Nordic country. He worked as a business executive and now divides his time between Lawrence, Kansas, and Northport, Michigan.



April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person

J.R.R. Tolkien, the greatest fantasy writer of the 20th century, drew profound inspiration from medieval northwestern European literature for his works, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. This course explores the ancient literary influences on Tolkien, such as "Beowulf," the Icelandic "Njal's Saga," the legend of King Arthur and Merlin, the Irish epic "The Táin," and "The Romance of Tristan and Iseult." We'll also delve into Tolkien's life, his fascination with languages, his WWI experiences, and themes like riddles, runes, vows, curses, valkyries, and quests. Familiarity with "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings" is helpful but not required, as we'll use audio excerpts and videos to understand the legends that inspired Tolkien's work.


Instructor Bio: Vic Peterson is the author of "The Berserkers" (Hawkwood 2022/Recital 2023), set in a fictional Nordic country. He worked as a business executive and now divides his time between Lawrence, Kansas, and Northport, Michigan.



April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person
Kansas has been home to a variety of unique, colorful and important individuals. First will be Joseph G. McCoy, the entrepreneur who brought cattle from the fields of Texas to the railroads at Abilene, creating the iconic cowboy image. Next will be Tom Pendergast, whose political machine ran Kansas City for almost 30 years. William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, was an advisor to eight U.S. presidents. Finally, we'll focus on Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, and his years at the University of Kansas, including mentoring Hall of Famer John McLendon, who could not play at Kansas because he was African-American.

Instructor Bio: Thomas Luellen recently retired after 31 years in hospital administration and 14 years as an adjunct instructor at Washburn University. He has a master's degree in geography from the KU. His personal interests have always been his native state and its history.


February 27, 2025 to March 13, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person

We'll explore the early 20th century world of adoption in Kansas City and share adoptees' and birth mothers' heartwarming and sometimes heart wrenching stories. Ranging from 1908 until 1969, these voices express the common need to know "Who am I" longing for medical history, fear of hurting adoptive parents, and guilt for being forced to give up a baby. One voice is of a Willows baby who grew up to be the governor of Kansas.


Instructor Bio: Kellee Parr holds bachelor's degrees in agriculture and education plus a master's degree in adult and occupational education from Kansas State University. He has taught elementary school for many years in Topeka and now writes science curriculum for Nancy Larson Publishers.


April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
There are many classical music composers who have written just one work that is considered "great." This course features a number of composers who have written just one lasting classical composition that is still worth listening to today. We'll talk a bit about the composer and then listen to excerpts from the piece

Instructor Bio: Don Dagenais has been a preview speaker for the Lyric Opera for more than 20 years, and he teaches classical music and opera courses for local organizations. He enjoys studying American political history and has compiled an extensive collection of memorabilia from presidential political campaigns from 1840 to the present. He recently retired as a real estate attorney.


March 27, 2025 to April 10, 2025, McCrite Plaza at Briaracliff - In Person
There are many classical music composers who have written just one work that is considered "great." This course features a number of composers who have written just one lasting classical composition that is still worth listening to today. We'll talk a bit about the composer and then listen to excerpts from the piece

Instructor Bio: Don Dagenais has been a preview speaker for the Lyric Opera for more than 20 years, and he teaches classical music and opera courses for local organizations. He enjoys studying American political history and has compiled an extensive collection of memorabilia from presidential political campaigns from 1840 to the present. He recently retired as a real estate attorney.


March 27, 2025 to April 10, 2025, McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff
Before she died in 1974, Felicia Bornstein Lubliner wrote about her internment in ghettos and concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Poland, powerful stories published by her son. Irving Lubliner will share excerpts from Only Hope: A Survivor's Stories of the Holocaust,  shedding light on his mother's fortitude and indomitable spirit, as well as his own experience as a child of Holocaust survivors. 

Instructor Bio: Irving Lubliner teaches math, music, and literature classes for Osher at Southern Oregon University. He taught for 40 years, led teaching seminars in 39 states, and gave 350 conference presentations, including several keynote addresses. In 2019, he created Felabra Press and published his mother's Holocaust-themed writings.


April 25-24, 2025, Zoom Facilitated Sessions
The national poet of Scotland is most famous, perhaps, for "Auld Lang Syne" and "To a Mouse," with its "best laid schemes o' mice an' men." "Auld Lang Syne" (Old Long Since), was written to be set to one of the over 200 Scottish tunes Burns collected. "To a Mouse" was a favorite of Abraham Lincoln, who recited it from memory at a State dinner two weeks before his assassination. In all, Burns (1759-1796) wrote thousands of poems, satires, tales, love ballads, celebrations, political protests, and histories. Join Tom Averill for readings, recitations and discussions of a sampling of 37 Burns poems, with background from Scottish history and Burns'life. 

Instructor Bio: Thomas Fox Averill is professor emeritus at Washburn University where he taught Kansas literature, folklore and film for more than 40 years. He is the author of three story collections and five novels, almost all of them set in Kansas. His most recent novel is "Found Documents from the Life of Nell Johnson Doerr: A Novel". 


Course Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend University of Kansas sponsored events. If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in an event, please email lpe@ku.edu or call 913-897-8530 at least three weeks before the first day of the event. 


February 26, 2025 to March 12, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
We will look at eight U.S. First Ladies who lived in the 20th and 21st centuries. They are not as well-known as some of the other first ladies, but they made impressive contributions to the United States. We will study Lou Hoover, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, and Laura Bush.

Instructor Bio: Anita Tebbe is a retired professor of the Legal Studies Department at Johnson County Community College. She earned an undergraduate degree in history, a graduate degree in education and a juris doctor degree in law. Anita is a Kansas licensed attorney and has more than 40 years at the high school and college levels.


March 24, 2025 to April 7, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person
We will look at eight U.S. First Ladies who lived in the 20th and 21st centuries. They are not as well-known as some of the other first ladies, but they made impressive contributions to the United States. We will study Lou Hoover, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, and Laura Bush.

Instructor Bio: Anita Tebbe is a retired professor of the Legal Studies Department at Johnson County Community College. She earned an undergraduate degree in history, a graduate degree in education and a juris doctor degree in law. Anita is a Kansas licensed attorney and has more than 40 years at the high school and college levels.


March 24, 2025 to April 7, 2025, Northland Innovation Center In-Person

In the late 3rd century BCE, the state of Qin achieved a monumental feat: the unification of most of China Proper, an imperial order that would endure until the 20th century. How was this accomplished and how did this new creation take shape to become the longest-lasting regime in East Asia? The famed terra cotta warriors of Xi'an are but one part of this saga, and the starting point for our archaeological investigation of this subject. 


Instructor Bio: Robert Thorp taught at Princeton and Washington University in St. Louis for 25 years followed by a second career as tour lecturer in China and Japan. His publications include Chinese Art and Culture (2001), China in the Early Bronze Age (2006), and Visiting Historic Beijing (2008). He has visited China more than 50 times.



February 25, 2025 to March 11, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person
In 19th century New England the writings of a group of intellectuals known as "Transcendentalists" were widely read and discussed throughout America. Today those writings are regarded primarily as a genre of literature. However, a great variety of ideas are encompassed in Transcendentalism and as a movement it had a significant lasting impact on the art, politics, philosophy and spirituality of American society. In addition, Transcendentalism affected thought and politics in India and world culture. This course will explore the ideas and impact of Transcendentalists including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Walt Whitman and others. 

Instructor Bio: James Gaither, Th.D., holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Kansas and ThD from Holos University Graduate Seminary. For over 25 years he has taught courses in history of Western thought, world religions, metaphysics and ethics and is currently a "semi-retired."


February 25, 2025 to March 11, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person

This course will examine the political and social climate of the early 1960's and the circumstances involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This course will discuss the major theories as to who was likely behind the assassination. Numerous photographs which were not available to the public in 1963 will be utilized during the course. The course will conclude with an in-depth examination of an eyewitness, who was ignored by the federal government, who observed a man shoot at the President from behind a picket fence.



February 24, 2025 to March 10, 2025, Tallgrass Creek Retirement Community In Person

This course will examine the political and social climate of the early 1960's and the circumstances involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This course will discuss the major theories as to who was likely behind the assassination. Numerous photographs which were not available to the public in 1963 will be utilized during the course. The course will conclude with an in-depth examination of an eyewitness, who was ignored by the federal government, who observed a man shoot at the President from behind a picket fence.


Instructor Bio: Brian Edwards has been researching the Kennedy assassination for five decades. During that time, he has personally interviewed hundreds of individuals connected with the case. He has given numerous presentations on the assassination throughout the United States. He is co-author of three books on the assassination; Beyond the Fence Line: The Eyewitness Account of Ed Hoffman and the Murder of President John Kennedy (2008); Blueprint for Murder (2020) and Admitted Assassin (2024). In 2019, he collaborated with and appeared in Oliver Stone's 4-hour documentary on the assassination, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.


June 2-16, 2025, Brewster Place In Person

This course will examine the political and social climate of the early 1960's and the circumstances involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This course will discuss the major theories as to who was likely behind the assassination. Numerous photographs which were not available to the public in 1963 will be utilized during the course. The course will conclude with an in-depth examination of an eyewitness, who was ignored by the federal government, who observed a man shoot at the President from behind a picket fence.


Instructor Bio: Brian Edwards has been researching the Kennedy assassination for five decades. During that time, he has personally interviewed hundreds of individuals connected with the case. He has given numerous presentations on the assassination throughout the United States. He is co-author of three books on the assassination; Beyond the Fence Line: The Eyewitness Account of Ed Hoffman and the Murder of President John Kennedy (2008); Blueprint for Murder (2020) and Admitted Assassin (2024). In 2019, he collaborated with and appeared in Oliver Stone's 4-hour documentary on the assassination, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.


February 24, 2025 to March 10, 2025, Tallgrass Creek Retirement Community In Person
Few American musicians have achieved the level of celebrity enjoyed by Leonard Bernstein, who simultaneously pursued busy careers as a conductor, composer of both concert music and Broadway shows, pianist, and musical educator/commentator on television. In this class we will explore each of these roles as well as Bernstein's biography to get to know this fascinating figure and his multiple roles in American music.

Instructor Bio: Paul Laird is professor of musicology at the University of Kansas. He has published widely on musical history topics including four books on Leonard Bernstein. The most recent is the biography Leonard Bernstein in the "Critical Lives" series from Reaktion Books(University of Chicago Press).


This course contains no sessions
Click here to be notified about the next scheduled program.
Few American musicians have achieved the level of celebrity enjoyed by Leonard Bernstein, who simultaneously pursued busy careers as a conductor, composer of both concert music and Broadway shows, pianist, and musical educator/commentator on television. In this class we will explore each of these roles as well as Bernstein's biography to get to know this fascinating figure and his multiple roles in American music.

Instructor Bio: Paul Laird is professor of musicology at the University of Kansas. He has published widely on musical history topics including four books on Leonard Bernstein. The most recent is the biography Leonard Bernstein in the "Critical Lives" series from Reaktion Books(University of Chicago Press).


This course contains no sessions
Click here to be notified about the next scheduled program.
While the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers is well known, the historical and sociological circumstances behind this are often neglected. This presentation will look at the factors behind the exclusion of African American baseball players from the Civil War through the depression years of the 1930's.

Instructor Bio: Terry C. Rodenberg is a retired professor of sociology and executive director of international programs at the University of Central Missouri and has made numerous presentations across the United States in addition to nine other countries. In his youth he played baseball against the last of the Negro League teams, the Indianapolis Clowns, and will bring personal observations of that experience to his presentation.


Monday, April 7, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online
Friday, May 2, 2025, Roeland Park Community Center In Person
The historical geography of small towns reveals that their struggles for economic viability began shortly after settlement. Climatic misconceptions, ineffectual land alienation laws, and the townsite activities of railroads led to over settlement and too many towns. The platting of new towns continued despite depopulation and the abandonment of rail lines. We'll explore the various survival strategies implemented.

Instructor Bio: Tom Schmiedeler, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of geography at Washburn University.


April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, Tallgrass Creek Retirement Community In Person
The historical geography of small towns reveals that their struggles for economic viability began shortly after settlement. Climatic misconceptions, ineffectual land alienation laws, and the townsite activities of railroads led to over settlement and too many towns. The platting of new towns continued despite depopulation and the abandonment of rail lines. We'll explore the various survival strategies implemented.

Instructor Bio: Tom Schmiedeler, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of geography at Washburn University.


April 21, 2025 to May 5, 2025, Tallgrass Creek Retirement Community In Person

This course will share the reunion of a mother and daughter 66 years after being separated at birth at the Willows Maternity Sanitarium. We will delve into the history of the Willows and dozens of other maternity homes that brought more than 100,000 young women shrouded in secrecy to Kansas City.


Instructor Bio: KelLee Parr holds bachelor degrees in agriculture and education plus a master's degree in adult and occupational education from Kansas State University. He has taught elementary school many years in Topeka and now writes science curriculum for Nancy Larson Publishers.


February 24, 2025 to March 10, 2025, KU Edwards Campus, 163 Regnier Hall, In Person and Online

So, your relative is in the military; what does that mean? How is the Department of Defense organized? What are the responsibilities of the military services? What do they mean when they say "joint service"? What is a combatant command? This course attempts to make some sense of today's Department of Defense and the missions of the maritime, land, air, and space components. We'll discuss how they are organized and what they do as the military instrument of national power.


Instructor Bio: Thomas Gray, one of the Army's first nine space operations officers, is a retired educator and training specialist who served in the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command teaching at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth as well as other institutions across the country.



February 27, 2025 to March 13, 2025, McCrite Plaza at Briaracliff - In Person

So, your relative is in the military; what does that mean? How is the Department of Defense organized? What are the responsibilities of the military services? What do they mean when they say "joint service"? What is a combatant command? This course attempts to make some sense of today's Department of Defense and the missions of the maritime, land, air, and space components. We'll discuss how they are organized and what they do as the military instrument of national power.


Instructor Bio: Thomas Gray, one of the Army's first nine space operations officers, is a retired educator and training specialist who served in the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command teaching at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth as well as other institutions across the country.



February 27, 2025 to March 13, 2025, McCrite Plaza at Briaracliff - In Person
Furies, Harpies, Gorgons, whores, and witches are among the monsters of mythology as well as Hecate, Kali, Tiamat, and Cailleah. Today we know them as women or deities intent on doing some sort of harm that in some cases includes seduction. However, this was not originally so. This course explores how these versions of the Divine Feminine were demonized over time once patriarchal cultures invaded the areas in which they were worshipped.

Instructor Bio: An educator for over 30 years, Shari Tarbet holds an MA/ PhD in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and a BSE English/History Education, and BSJ Broadcast Journalism from Kansas University. Her writings and lectures cover a wide variety of topics on myth, dreamwork, the Bill of Rights, and the Sacred Feminine.


February 27, 2025 to March 13, 2025, Zoom Facilitated Sessions
An exploration of the music and artistry of the world's foremost cellist and music ambassador. Learn about Yo Yo Ma's upbringing and his appreciation for the music of different cultures and the importance of preserving these musical traditions.

Instructor Bio: Jean Hein recently moved to Kansas from South Carolina, where she was director and recorder performer with Columbia Baroque as well as a clarinetist. She currently teaches online recorder classes for seniors. Hein has served on the Board of Early Music America. She holds music degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern University.


Thursday, April 3, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person