Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

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Arts & Entertainment

Courses & Events

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.
Landscape surrounds and shapes us, but it changes. When photography came to the U.S. in 1839, people immediately turned the camera on the land. The torn land of the Civil War was shown, and then the great West in the 19th century. But there was also the new cityscape emerging. This will be a tour of nearly 200 years of imaging our nation by a variety of humans.>

Instructor Bio: James Showalter has seven years of experience with historic preservation and 31 years of teaching history at the university level. One of several areas of expertise he has developed is the history of religion worldwide, and particularly the history of religion in the area that is now the United States.


This course contains no sessions
Click here to be notified about the next scheduled program.
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
Would you like to learn about highly entertaining annual midwestern music festivals? This class will explore music festivals from a twelve-state area with emphasis on festivals in Kansas and nearby states. These festivals feature a large variety of musical styles. Their settings range from casual to formal, indoors or outdoors, with an admission charge from free to very expensive. An extensive list of festival websites will be provided with the class.

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

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
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
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
There is a museum in Nice, France devoted exclusively to paintings of Biblical scenes by the Jewish painter Marc Chagall. At the beginning of the first session of this interactive online class we will discuss Chagall's biography. In every session we will read and discuss the text of a Bible story he depicted, closely examine one or two of his wonderful paintings, and compare them to works by other artists. 

Instructor Bio: Sarah Rosenson has a B.A. from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in Jewish Studies from the Spertus Institute. She practiced law, and then taught classes on ethics, philosophy, and world religions at a private high school. She currently teaches adults both in-person and on various online platforms, including several OLLIs.


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.
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.
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