Osher - Special Events

Special Events

Courses & Events

Osher Membership Fee

A required individual Osher membership fee of just $25 will be collected during the fall semester each year to grant participation in the Osher offerings for the next 12 months. Your paid membership allows you to attend Osher courses and special events. Membership in Osher helps to keep the cost of classes affordable for all. We're excited to nurture your ongoing quest to learn as you engage with and contribute greatly to the world around you.

July 16, 2025 to December 31, 2025

A Christmas Story: The Musical

From the songwriting team behind the smash-hit, Tony Award-winning musical "Dear Evan Hansen" and the critically acclaimed films "La La Land" and "The Greatest Showman," "A Christmas Story: The Musical" brings the classic 1983 movie to hilarious life on stage! Nominated for three 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical, the Associated Press calls "A Christmas Story: The Musical" "a joyous Christmas miracle," while The New York Times writes "I was dazzled. You'd have to have a Grinch-sized heart not to feel a smile spreading across your face." The event includes top-notch seats behind the Lied Center's orchestra pit and a catered dinner with a special Osher-only presentation before the show. All reservations must be made by Nov. 18. No refunds will be given after that date.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025, Lied Center

Christmas Carols, Cookie Decorating and Cocoa

"Carols for Christmas I," last December, was a much-enjoyed Osher class. Join us for "Carols for Christmas II," as we explore a new selection of carols from the Sir David Wilcox collection and a sampling of carols from throughout the world. Since we'll work up an appetite singing, we'll each decorate a dozen Christmas cookies with the help of a pro pastry chef. (We won't tell Santa if they don't all make it home.) Bring your friends and family to create a new holiday tradition!

Saturday, December 13, 2025, St Andrews Classroom

Crimson and Blue Day Mini College

Go 'back to school' at KU! Crimson and Blue Day is a special day for prospective KU students to experience a day in the life of a Jayhawk, and this year, Osher students are invited to join in the grand tradition. You'll choose your own schedule from six different classes and will learn alongside future KU undergraduate students and their parents. All classes will be taught by current faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and held in the Burge Union. You'll park at the St. Andrews Office Building for free and ride the bus to and from campus. Lunch will be on your own at the DeBruce Center Food Court, a short, three-minute walk from the Burge. Class descriptions and schedule can be found online at osher.ku.edu. Includes: Three one-hour class sessions, transportation to and from campus, and a special Crimson and Blue Day surprise.

Friday, October 17, 2025, St Andrews Classroom

East Lawrence Walking Tour

Select a wide variety of people, add two dashes of independence and creativity, then stir in artistry and brick streets while slowly heating over a century and a half-plus. Voila! East Lawrence. We'll learn of this place from its abolitionist beginnings through its central place for immigrant societies, industrialization, decline then arts-led resurgence during a one-hour walk with Bob Dinsdale. The tour is limited to 20 people.

Instructor Bio: Bob Dinsdale grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, went to undergrad at Baylor University, then to medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He and his family moved to Lawrence in 1990. Now retired, Bob started Lawrencehistorytours.com. He has a decades-long passion for history, especially the stories of the people and events that have shaped our town. He uses techniques learned in his medical training to find facts and see things in new ways.

Friday, October 3, 2025

Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebration

Get to know Indigenous peoples' local histories and celebrate their contributions to society. We'll learn about Haskell Indian Nations University's history, as well as the story of the Pawnee peoples in Northeast Kansas prior to white settlement. Jason Champagne, a.k.a. Native Chef, will cater lunch and discuss the traditional Indigenous ingredients used. Through the afternoon we'll discover contemporary Native artists, how today's #LandBack movement returns traditional lands to tribes and efforts to restore the Haskell Wetlands.

The event includes six presentations and a catered lunch prepared with indigenous ingredients.

Monday, October 13, 2025, St Andrews Classroom

Know Your Joe: The Secret Life of Coffee


It might be "the best part of waking up" -- but how much do you really know about your morning cup o' joe? We'll dive into coffee's specific geography and how geopolitics, civil unrest, the economy and climate change affect its worldwide distribution. We'll also hear about the multi-step process to turn those magical beans into your morning bliss. As a bonus: savor a cup of PT's Coffee, brewed fresh on site by their head roaster!


Optional:

Nov. 6

10 - 11:30 a.m.

In-Person

PT's Coffee (Topeka)


Meet us at PT's Coffee in Topeka for a one-hour tour of their facility. You'll see the roasting process in action, then enjoy a special tasting! You'll also receive a bag of coffee - straight from the batch roasted during our visit - to take home. Limited to 30 participants.


Instructor Bio: Brent Piepergerdes is the chief operating officer for PT's Coffee Roasting Co. In his 15 years in specialty coffee, Brent has developed longstanding relationships throughout the global supply chain, from producers to exporters, importers to roasters, and retailers to end consumers. As a green coffee buyer working in multiple countries of origin, he brings unique expertise to topics of direct trade and sustainability. Brent holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kansas and has taught more than a dozen courses for Washburn University, Haskell Indian Nations University and KU.


Wednesday, November 5, 2025, Osher Institute, St. Andrews Office Facility In Person
November 5-6, 2025, PT's Coffee Roasting Co.
Thursday, November 6, 2025, PT's Coffee Roasting Co.

Prairie Prestige: Day Trip to Abilene

Let's explore the "Best Small Town to Visit in the U.S."! We'll tour Abilene's beautifully renovated Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home, then head to the famous Brookville Hotel for a scratch-made, fried chicken lunch. Once our bellies are full, we'll take a docent-led tour of the Seelye Mansion, an opulent residence with original 1904 Edison light fixtures, a Tiffany-style mantel and bowling alley.

Trip includes executive coach transportation, admission to both sites, a docent-led tour of the Seelye Mansion and lunch at the Brookville Hotel. The coach will pick up and drop off students at the St. Andrews Office Building in Lawrence, the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park and the Westridge Mall in Topeka.

Friday, August 22, 2025

Presidents and First Ladies

Osher members are invited to attend a special event at Brandon Woods about President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover. This event is free to Osher members as a gift from our partner, Brandon Woods at Alvamar. Refreshments will be provided by Brandon Woods at Alvamar. Seating is limited. You can register for either a 10am or 2pm event.


Brandon Woods at Alvamar- 1501 Inverness Dr., Lawrence KS 66047

No admission fee, but reservations are required by completing the Osher registration form.


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

Turn-of-the-Century Holiday Traditions

Experience the holidays through the lens of history by visiting two of Kansas City's turn-of-the-century mansions, completely transformed for the Christmas season, and a traditional Catholic Church built in 1900. The day will start with a tour of the Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center, housed in a mansion built on a bluff overlooking downtown Kansas City in 1887. Each of the mansion's rooms will be awash in holiday décor, including traditional Eastern European decorations. After a traditional Croatian lunch, we will tour the St. John the Baptist Church, celebrating its Centennial in 2025. We will board the bus and head east to the Vaile Victorian Mansion, one of the best examples of Second Empire-style architecture in the United States. The 31-room mansion includes nine marble fireplaces, spectacular painted ceilings and a 48,000-gallon wine cellar, all transformed for the holidays.

Includes: Docent-led tours of the Strawberry Hill Museum, the Vaile Mansion and St. John the Baptist Church, a traditional four-course Croatian lunch, executive coach transportation and a special Christmas treat. The coach will pick up and drop off students at the St. Andrews Office Building in Lawrence and at the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

Friday, December 12, 2025