Come with us to look at the military history of the American Civil War in 1863, with particular focus on the evolution of Northern and Southern strategy and the course, conduct and outcome of major operations. We'll address strategic and political contexts that shaped the great battles fought in Virginia, Tennessee and elsewhere, as well as look at the individuals, such as Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, William Rosecrans, Joseph Hooker, Thomas Jackson, Braxton Bragg, Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, whose decisions and leadership shaped what proved to be a dramatic and transformative year in America's bloodiest war.

Instructor bio: Ethan S. Rafuse received his doctorate 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 "Robert E. Lee and the Fall of the Confederacy 1863-1865," essays in "The Chattanooga Campaign" and "The Chickamauga Campaign," and "U.S. Presidents During Wartime."

Join us for a Christmas carol celebration, featuring stories behind the music and lyrics, inspiring video performances, and visual art to enhance your holiday season. As Sir David Willcocks said, "In our technological age, the simple pleasure of communal singing at Christmas has endured, and carol music, 'the ancient unalterable music of the people' still brings cheer.

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.

Recognized among the most admired people of the 20th century, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt first overcame an unhappy childhood when both parents and a younger brother died before she turned 10. Sent to school in London, she returned in 1905 to marry her distant cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, and was given in marriage by her uncle, President Theodore Roosevelt. We'll explore how her marriage combined a complicated personal life - involving a controlling mother-in-law, six children and FDR's affair - with an extraordinarily successful political role as FDR's surrogate, the nation's longest-serving First Lady, an ardent civil rights activist and respected international diplomat.

Instructor bio: Diana Carlin is professor emerita of communications at Saint Louis University and a retired professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. Her teaching and research interests are in political communication with an emphasis on speeches, debates, campaigns, women in politics and first ladies.

Let's dive into our First Ladies' lives with a short biography of each. We will discuss how active - or not - the ladies were in Washington politics, from Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mrs. Reagan. We won't leave out those who chose to stay home either, like Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Truman and others!

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.

For a significant majority of Americans, the '50s were good times. The Baby Boom, prosperity and rising homeownership fueled more fun than in previous and subsequent decades. Do you remember "Howdy Doody," poodle skirts, S&H Green Stamps, the McGuire Sisters and big cars with chrome and tail fins? We'll look back on these things and more when covering topics such as suburbanization, television, cars, movies, music, fads, fashions, foods, beverages, toys, games and print media. We'll also touch on social critiques and worries like polio. We'll compare our memories to documents, film clips and music.

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

Join us to get to know the history of Quindaro, now part of Kansas City, Kansas, from its origins as a stop on the Underground Railroad, through its apex as a bustling town of freed slaves and suffragettes. We'll discover how Quindaro served as a shining example of the quest for freedom in an age of oppression. We'll also explore Quindaro's place in national and Kansas history, as well as its continuing legacy today.

Instructor bio: Aaron Margolis received his doctorate in history from the University of Texas at El Paso where he concentrated on Latin American and borderlands history. He is currently an associate professor of history at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Madeleine Albright blazed a path as a career diplomat. Over three weeks, we'll delve into Albright's personal life, from her 1937 birth in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to living in Great Britain during World War II and relocating to the United States afterward. We'll track her diplomatic rise, culminating in serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. Secretary of State. Lastly, we'll scrutinize Albright's unique diplomatic tactic of using jewelry to convey messages - either subtly or explicitly. We'll look at one of the 200 brooches she wore to important meetings.

Instructor bio: Anita Tebbe is a retired professor in the legal studies department at Johnson County Community College. She earned an undergraduate degree in history, a graduate degree in education and a law degree. Anita is a Kansas-licensed attorney and has more than 40 years of teaching experience at the high school and college levels.

Long-time Osher instructor Marlene Katz once again brings history to life in her unique classes centering famouswomen throughout history. This semester, Marlene shares the story of legendary entertainer and philanthropist Sarah Cannon, better known as Minnie Pearl, through a combination of biographical facts and engaging storytelling.

Instructor bio: Marlene Katz, a University of Missouri graduate, 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 for various groups, often in costume and speech of the character she is portraying.

"And God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the Earth and subdue it." This course examines our efforts to subdue the Earth in North America. From removing the forests east of the Mississippi River for giant monoculture farms to having perfect suburban lawns, which attract deer and geese, subduing the Earth has been a constant battle. In the West we will learn "water flows uphill to money." One in nine Americans depend on water from the Colorado River. But with the current 20+ year drought, significant changes in water usage will be necessary. 

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 University of Kansas. His personal interests have always been his native state and its history.

Join us for a deep dive into the "one-hit wonders" of U.S. presidents! This course will spotlight those presidents elected for one term and those who filled out an unexpired term and were elected to only one term. We'll scrutinize their domestic and foreign policies along with issues with Congress and the Courts.

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.

Let's travel back in time to share the experiences of women who made Kansas Territory their home from 1854 - 1861. Regardless of their political sentiments, women in Bleeding Kansas shared sorrow and grief equally as the territory roiled with turmoil. From the staunch abolitionist Sara Robinson to a young woman robbed of her fiancé, we'll look at the compelling human dramas that took center stage as Kansas decided if she would be a free or slave state.

Instructor bio: Michelle M. Martin is a Michigander by birth and a Kansan and Oklahoman by choice. Martin earned her doctorate in history at the University of New Mexico. Her research probes interracial marriage, gender, race and power in the Mvskoke Nation in Indian Territory from 1870 - 1897.

The Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers and the Great Lakes are rich in history, tall tales and music. Come learn how canal boats, steamboats, tugs, barges and Great Lakes freighters played a major role in U.S. territorial and economic expansion. We'll cover the Steamboat Arabia, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and more. The grandson of a Great Lakes sailor, our instructor has visited the Great Lakes and rivers covered in the class and will share his photos plus films of vessels and a wide range of exciting music and stories.

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

Rock music during the 1967 - 1969 countercultural era started with the Summer of Love and ended tragically just two years later. We'll explore cultural and political events of the time from the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, through the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, and ending at the Altamont Speedway Festival. While Monterey introduced the world to many soon-to-be famous performers, Woodstock gave its name to a generation, and Altamont brought the era of love and trust to a sad end. Join the conversation as we recall this seminal time in American history.

Instructor bio: Steve Lopes, A.E., B.A., M.A., M. Ed., was an educator for 15 years prior to 30 years of advocating for teachers as a Kansas-NEA organizer. He enjoys researching rock 'n' roll history and sharing it with KU Osher participants.

Among the many legends of lost cities and vanished ancient civilizations none has captured the popular imagination quite like the lost continent of Atlantis. First described in a tale told more than 2,000 years ago, Atlantis has been "found" many times since. Was it a real place or just an allegory? Can modern archeological methods and satellite imagery lend credence to the legend? Join us to look at the leading theories of its whereabouts and for the tales of those intrepid sleuths who believe they have solved the mystery.

Instructor Bio: David Mannering earned a master's degree in philosophy and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Kansas. After retiring, he rekindled his interest in the ancient civilizations bordering the Mediterranean and has taken several trips to visit ruins in its vicinity.

Throughout American history the military has played a significant role in our country's development. Come walk through history as we examine some of America's most significant battles, both victories and defeats. We'll survey a series of military actions from the Revolution to the Korean War charting those conflicts, lessons learned and those lessons forgotten. We'll first focus on the victories and defeats incurred during the American Revolution and the War of 1812 when America fought against the world's premier military power, Great Britain. In Week 2 we'll investigate the Civil War and America's first experience with the "Total War" concept. We'll spend the last class discussing America's climb to become the world's foremost military power during its early 20th-century conflicts.

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

Let's jump into the political and social climate of the early 1960s and the circumstances involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. Over three weeks we'll consider the major theories as to who was likely behind the assassination. You'll see numerous photographs which were not available to the public in 1963during the course, too. We'll 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 researched the Kennedy assassination for five decades. During that time, he has interviewed hundreds of individuals connected with the case. He has given numerous presentations on the assassination throughout the United States. Brian co-authored 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 four-hour documentary on the assassination, "JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass."

Together we'll explore what early modern Europeans believed about witches and the devil, how these beliefs led to the persecution of thousands across Europe and its colonies, and what these trials tell us about life in early modern Europe. We'll unpack the origins of belief in witchcraft and the devil in Judeo-Christian texts and the development of these beliefs through the medieval period. Then we'll examine specific cases and the laws regarding witchcraft in the major European nations and the American colonies.Content warning: Some material discussed may be disturbing or explicit in nature.

Instructor bio: Cameron C. Engelbrecht holds a master's degree in early modern history from Trinity College Dublin and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Central Missouri. He currently serves as director of faith formation at two Catholic churches in the Kansas City area and lives in Independence, Missouri, with his wife and daughter.

The great three-day Battle of Gettysburg has widely been seen as the American Civil War's turning point, the pivot on which the war and the fate of the republic turned. This course will look at the three days of battle at Gettysburg. We'll consider the great (and not so great) leaders, events and decisions that shaped its course, conduct and outcome, as well the larger campaign that carried the war north of the Potomac for the second time in less than a year. We'll also look at the battle's special place in the war's history, as well as that of the individuals and events that shaped its course and results.

Instructor bio: Ethan S. Rafuse received his doctorate from 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 "Robert E. Lee and the Fall of the Confederacy 1863-1865," essays in "The Chattanooga Campaign" and "The Chickamauga Campaign," and "U.S. Presidents During Wartime."