Lifelong Learning

Fall Classes

All course work will be offered in-person and online.

In person classes will be held from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at the Wichita State University Metropolitan Complex located at 5015 E. 29th St. North. 

Online classes will be available. Students who select this option will receive a link via email each week to view the class on their own device.

History of American Serial Killers

*In-person class full as of 2:30pm Monday, July 6*

HIST 150BR | CRN 14918
Wednesdays, August 19, 26 & September 2, 9 | 1-3p

This course explores the history, psychology, and investigation of serial crimes, with a special focus on serial homicide cases that have shaped modern criminal investigations. The class examines how investigators, psychologists, and forensic scientists work together to understand patterns of violent crime and identify offenders. Students will learn about the evolution of serial killer investigations, including the development of criminal profiling, behavioral analysis, and advances in forensic science and technology. Through engaging case studies, documentaries, readings, and class discussion, participants will examine how multiple-murder cases are classified and how investigative methods have changed over time.

Instructor: Tim Relph, Retired WPD Detective

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Recognize the evolution of Serial Killer Investigation.
• Identify the classification of multiple murderer cases according to
• Apply classification to analyze case studies  
• Appreciate the expanding role of scientific testing and technology in the investigation of Serial Killing cases.

The 1970s and 1980s: Precursors of the Present

HIST 150BQ | CRN 14917
Tuesdays, September 1, 8, 15 & 22 | 1-3p

The 1970s and 1980s are a time few adults have studied. They just lived through them. But they were the decades of older Americans’ child-raising, when life was happening and allowing little time for reflection. This course will examine these important decades in the U.S. past, looking at the political and social/cultural developments they saw and the changes they made in Americans’ ways of seeing issues, political parties, and politics. In both decades international events profoundly shaped the U.S. political response and the message politicians put out re: how to regard protesters, wars of liberation, the U.S.S.R (Soviet Union), environmental change, and popular culture.

Instructor: Dr. Gretchen Eick, Lecturer, Department of History

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Identify the events of the 1970s and 1980s in the United States and the world that were precursors to our present conflicts and challenges;
• Identify ideas, behaviors, and policies of the major parties during these two decades;
• Identify social and cultural changes occurring in these two decades that shaped behavior, attitudes, and beliefs.
• View primary source documents, snippets of documentary footage, and photographs.

What Makes People Special

ENGL 150R | CRN 14913
Thursdays, September 10, 17, 24 & October 1 | 1-3p

This engaging course explores a central question: what makes people memorable and meaningful? Through stories and discussion, students examine how experiences, choices and relationships shape the lives they encounter and remember. Drawing on his time as a judge in the Sedgwick County District Court, the instructor shares firsthand stories that reveal character and defining moments. The course also explores what makes people special through guided reflection and participant contributions, with selected stories featured in the final session. A special session with broadcaster Mike Kennedy highlights his 45 years covering Wichita State basketball, offering another lens on character, connection and impact. Together, these perspectives create a meaningful exploration of what truly makes people stand out—in the courtroom, in sports, and in everyday lives.

Instructor: The Honorable David Dahl, Retired District Court Judge, Division 2, Sedgwick County

Student Learning Outcomes:

• you will become familiar with how the criminal court system works, some of the fascinating stories related to WSU men’s basketball over the past 45 years, and an in depth discussion of what makes people special, complete with exercises to illustrate the points.

English Literature 500-1800 AD

ENGL 150Q | CRN 14915
Wednesdays,  September 16, 23, 30 & October 7 | 1-3p

In 500 AD England was an isolated island of diffuse tribes fighting Anglo and Saxon invaders; by 1800 it was Great Britain, a financial, military, and cultural superpower. Literature offers one way to trace this remarkable development, and our course will do so by reading lyric and narrative poems, drama, and narrative prose from some of the nation’s greatest writers, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Defoe, and many more. If you have an old Norton Anthology of English Literature lying around, this will be an opportunity to put it to use!

Instructor: Dr. Fran Connor, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of English

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze a selection of works written by English authors from 500-1800.
• Interpret and evaluate theatrical and filmic representations of English literature.
• Acquire content knowledge of a selection of English lit, its cultural and historical
  contexts, and their ongoing influence.

Introduction to Russian History

*In-person class full as of 4:30pm Monday, July 6*

HIST 150BS | CRN 14919
Mondays, September 28, October 5, 12 & 19 | 1-3p

For more than 300 years, Russia has been the largest country on earth and today covers 11 time zones. There at least 190 ethnic groups in Russia speaking over 100 different languages and dialects. Russia has occupied a strategic geopolitical position almost since its inception as a small Medieval state called Rus located around what today is the city of Kiev in Ukraine. Its status as a global “superpower” is not only a phenomenon of the twentieth century. Through this 4-week course, students will gain knowledge of the history of Russia, its people and leaders, and the contributions that have been made to the history and culture of many parts of the world.

Instructor: Dr. Brent Mai, Dean, University Libraries

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Identify differences among the various time periods of Russian History.
• Demonstrate critical reflection on the culture and history of Russia.
• Evaluate concepts of culture and identity as Russians.
• Engage responsibly and sensitively with cultural and historical topics as they relate to Russia.
• Describe fundamentally important events in Russian history.
• Articulate cultural and socioeconomic trends in Russia history.

A Republic If You Can Keep It: Lessons from the American Revolution

*In-person class full as of 11:30am Monday, July 6*

HIST 150BP | CRN 14916
Tuesdays, October 6, 13, 20 & 27 | 1-3p

In this class, we will examine the struggle and lessons of the American Revolution and coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States. We will not only discuss the war itself but also the ideas that pushed the colonies to revolution and the lessons, traditions, and challenges that were a part of the new republic.

Instructor: Ken Spurgeon, Lecturer, Department of History

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Identify the factors that led to a revolution in a British colony on the eve of four wars for Empire. This will include a discussion of revolutions in the colonial period as well.
• Understand the military and political elements of the war and how the young United States achieved victory and truly turned the world upside down.
• How the revolution and its lessons were in many ways just the beginning of an ongoing struggle to keep and maintain a republic.

Gulliver’s Travels 300 Year Anniversary

ENGL 150S | CRN 14914
Thursdays, October 8, 15, 22 & 29 | 1-3p

First published in 1726, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels has never remained the same book for very long. Over the past three centuries, it has been read as sharp political satire, children’s adventure story, philosophical nightmare, imperial critique, patriotic allegory, and even cautionary tale about technology. This four-week course explores both Swift’s original text and this remarkable history of its reinvention across 300 years of readers, publishers, illustrators and adapters. Along the way, the course asks not only what Gulliver’s Travels meant in 1726, but why it continues to provoke and inspire readers today.

Instructor: Dr. Katie Lanning, Associate Professor, Department of English

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Develop foundational skills in literary analysis and book history.
• Evaluate a narrative form, its aims, and its methods.
• Analyze the historical reception of Gulliver’s Travels.

Where Are the Women? A Look at the Gender Imbalance in Theatre

THEA 150S | CRN 14920
Wednesdays, October 14, 21, 28 & November 4 | 1-3p

This course explores the gender imbalance in leadership roles in professional theatre. Women consistently buy a majority of theatre tickets while the shows they are seeing typically are written and brought to the stage by men. Is the glass ceiling for creative leaderships on Broadway finally cracking? This course takes a look at female directors, composers, lyricists, producers and designers working on Broadway now. Who are they and how did they get there? Who are some of the early pioneers who led the way?

Instructor: Linda Starkey, Retired Faculty, Lecturer, School of Performing Arts

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Discover the historical development of gender roles in theatre.
• Understand the slow progression from being allowed on the stage to being included in the production meetings.
• Appreciate the contribution of 20th Century Broadway composers, lyricists, de-signers & producers.
• Learn how today’s professional theatre climate is more supportive of female artists.

The Ground Beneath Our Feet

GEOL 150I | CRN 14912
Fridays, October 16, 23, 30 & November 13 | 1-3p

Soil is the foundation of our lives. It supports the buildings we live and work in, the roads we drive on, and the plants (and animals) that we eat. But have you ever wondered, what exactly is soil? In this class we will learn where soil comes from and all the vastly different properties it can have, from strength to stickiness, and why these properties are so important for the built environment. No class 11/6.

Instructor: Dr. Christin Manning, Assistant Teaching Professor, College of Engineering

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Differentiate the three sources of soil.
• Identify the important soil properties for engineering and why they differ across soils.
• Describe why soil biology and chemistry are so important for plants.
• Suggest ways to prevent destruction from soil gone wrong.
• Identify how soil influences the design of the built world, including foundations, roads, and other important structures.

From Student to Author

HIST 150CO | CRN 14904
Mondays, November 2, 9, 16 & 23  | 1-3p

Becoming an author involves far more than writing—it requires navigating publishing processes, understanding audiences, marketing work, and collaboration while learning from missteps along the way. In this course, WSU alumni authors share candid insights from their journeys in history, historical fiction and publishing. The series concludes with perspectives on collaborative storytelling and local history offering a behind-the-scenes look at what happens beyond the page.

Instructor: Dr. Jay Price, Professor, Department of History

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the stages in writing and publishing a book from creation to distribution.
• Learn about the differences between publishing and printing and how the publishing world is changing.
• Conceptualize a book project from start to finish.
• Know how to connect with professionals in the publishing industry.