KU News Release

Continuing Education announces Osher Lifelong Learning Institute spring schedule

LAWRENCE — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, hosted by University of Kansas Continuing Education, will offer 23 courses and three special events this spring in Lawrence, Overland Park, Topeka and Kansas City, Mo.

Courses on history, geology, religion, music, sports, movies, biotechnology and politics highlight the spring schedule. Also planned are a guided tour of three Asian art exhibitions at KU’s Spencer Museum of Art; a study of American urban and rural landscapes in photographs during a tour of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo.; and an exploration of Kansas City’s lively blues and jazz scene during a bus tour called “Jammin’ up the Town,” which features dinner at B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ.

Host sites for classes are: KU’s Continuing Education, 1515 St. Andrews Drive, and Brandon Woods Retirement Community, 1501 Inverness Drive, both in Lawrence; Maple Woods Community College, 2601 NE Barry Road, Kansas City, Mo.; Tallgrass Creek Retirement Community, 13800 Metcalf Ave., and KU’s Edwards Campus, 12600 Quivira Road, both in Overland Park; and Brewster Place Retirement Community, 1205 SW 29th St., and the Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Ave., both in Topeka.

The Osher Institute develops programs focusing on those 50 and older, but welcomes lifelong learners of all ages. Institute members can enroll in courses for as little as $35. Other benefits include a KU online ID, which provides access to more than 40 instructional technology workshops, KU library services and a 10 percent discount on adult art education classes at the Lawrence Arts Center.

The Bernard Osher Foundation of San Francisco selected KU in 2004 as a site for this nationally acclaimed program that opens the university’s doors to the public. The institute now has approximately 600 members.

Course titles, dates and locations are listed below. For more information or to join, visit the Continuing Education Web site, (keyword: Osher), or call toll free (877) 484-5823 or (785) 864-5823.

Lawrence courses

— I Always Wanted to Learn How to Draw; Feb. 18 and 25 and March 3; Continuing Education
— The Mind and the Brain: New Discoveries; Feb. 19 and 26 and March 4; Continuing Education
— Islam and Muslim Approaches to Modernity; Feb. 27 and March 5 and 12; Continuing Education
— The Glory Days of the American Circus; Feb. 28 and March 6 and 13; Brandon Woods
— Souls on Ice: Human Conquest and Study of the Antarctic Icecap; March 24 and 31 and April 7; Continuing Education
— The Bible: An Unauthorized Biography; March 26 and April 2 and 9; Continuing Education
— Those Latin Lovers Got Around! — The Romance Languages; April 3, 10 and 17; Continuing Education
— Gordon Parks: The Power of Images in the Construction of Manhood; April 14 and 28 and May 5; Continuing Education
— Kish and Tell: Three Fascinating Tales of Sports in Kansas; April 15, 22 and 29; Continuing Education
— Recovering a Lost Kansas Landscape: A Novelist Explores Personal History; April 16, 23 and 30; Brandon Woods

Kansas City, Mo., courses

— The Poetry of Robert Frost; Feb. 25 and March 3 and 10; Maple Woods
— How to Listen to and Understand Great Jazz; April 2, 9 and 16; Maple Woods
— Arlington National Cemetery: Its History and Its Heroes; April 14, 21 and 28; Maple Woods

Overland Park courses

— Behind the Rainbow: Judy Garland and the MGM Musical; Feb. 19 and 26 and March 4; Tallgrass Creek
— From Cheese to CSI: The Role of Biotechnology in Our Lives; Feb. 25 and March 3 and 10; Edwards Campus
— Edwards Campus World Tour Series: Japan at the Crossroads; March 20 and 27; Edwards Campus, with guided tour of Nelson-Atkins Museum, March 29
— Recovering a Lost Kansas Landscape: A Novelist Explores Personal History; March 24 and 31 and April 7; Tallgrass Creek
— A Brief Survey of Western Classical Music; April 10, 17 and 24; Edwards Campus
— Contact with Alien Civilizations — Our Hopes and Fears About Encountering Extraterrestrials; April 15, 22 and 29; KU Edwards Campus

Topeka courses

— Behind the Rainbow: Judy Garland and the MGM Musical; Feb. 20 and 27 and March 5; Brewster Place
— Arlington National Cemetery: Its History and Its Heroes; March 4, 11 and 18; Brewster Place
— Statehouse Politics from the Inside; March 24 and 31 and April 7; Brewster Place
— Adapting to Forces of Nature; April 8, 15 and 22; Kansas State Historical Society

Special events

— Japanese Art: Innovation and International Currents from 1950-1980; March 10; Spencer Museum of Art
— On the Road: America Through the Lens; April 25; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
— Jammin’ up the Town; May 8; Kansas City, Mo.

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