Fall Registration Opens Tomorrow at 9:00 am!

Join us for continued joy in learning this fall. Registration opens Tuesday, August 5 at 9:00 am sharp. Classes and special events can fill quickly so please don’t delay! Choose from over 130 courses, meeting either in person at our Arapeen Drive or Sandy Center locations, or live via Zoom. With so many outstanding options, it can be hard to decide. Meeting instructors at our Red Butte Garden open house, and reading a few of our new instructors’ bios below, can help. Where will your infinite curiosity and lifelong learning journey take you next?

Can't Decide What to Take?

Come to Our Open House and Meet Our Instructors!

Join us at Red Butte Garden on Thursday August 7 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. This is a true open house, no registration is needed this year, and no Osher membership is required.

Meet our outstanding instructors, ask questions, see the course syllabus for over 130 classes, socialize with fellow Osher members, learn about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, and register in person, if you prefer, instead of online. Invite a friend to join you and introduce them to the magic that is Osher!

• Free parking is available at Red Butte and at our lot at 540 Arapeen Drive.
• From 9:30 am to 1:00 pm, a shuttle bus will run a loop from our building at Arapeen Drive to Red Butte Garden, stopping along the way in overflow parking areas, taking you directly to the front entrance.
• Meet at the bus stop on the SW corner of Arapeen Drive & Wakara Way, and look for their sandwich board sign, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Open House – SHUTTLE.

We will be collecting donations of school supplies for children in need at a local school district, thanks to dedicated Osher member and volunteer Connie Reed. Because back-to-school is an exciting new time for all learners, whatever their age. Thanks, Connie!

Osher on TV?! Watch Us on Good Things Utah!

Osher Director Jill E. Meyer was featured as a guest on ABC4's Good Things Utah on Wednesday, July 30th to promote the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and our upcoming line up of over 130 fall term classes. Twelve lucky Osher members were in the studio, cheering Jill on and enjoying watching the show as a live audience. We all got a special behind-the-scenes tour of Utah's ABC Channel 4 television station after the show. A big shout out to Osher volunteer Angie Matinkhah for masterminding and arranging this outstanding special event for us!

Special Events with Fees

Exploring the Bear River Massacre Field Trip

In January 1863, U.S. Army forces from Camp Douglas attacked a village of Northwestern Shoshone, resulting in what has been described as the largest loss of native life in American history. Visit the massacre site on a day-long bus tour, exploring this traumatic event through the perspectives of three different instructors: Darren Parry, Brad Westwood, and Ephriam Dickson. They will each present lectures for us, enroute and on site.

Darren Parry is the Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Darren also serves on the Board of Directors for the American West Heritage Center, the Utah State Museum board, the Advisory Board of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. In 2017, he received the Esto Pepetua Award from the State of Idaho for one who preserved and promoted history in the State of Idaho. He is the first Utah to win this award. He attended the University of Utah and Weber State University and received his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, with an emphasis on History. His passions in life are his family which includes his tribal family. Darren is the author of The Bear River Massacre: A Shoshone History (2019) and wants to make sure that the story of the Bear River Massacre and the outcomes of that horrific event are always remembered. It is important that the Shoshone perspective is heard.

Brad Westwood recently retired from his position as the senior public historian with the Utah Department of Culture and Community Engagement. He was formerly the director of the Utah State Historical Society and was Utah's State Historic Preservation Officer. He also served as Manager of Acquisitions for the LDS Church History Department (archives, library, and museum) and Chair of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU.

Ephriam Dickson Formerly curator at the Fort Douglas Museum, and later with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ephriam Dickson is an historian with special interest in Native Americans and their relationship to the federal government. He has also studied the Civil War extensively. Ephriam currently serves as Deputy Superintendent at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Friday, September 12 at 8:00 am 

Meet Our New Instructors

We are pleased to have eight University of Utah graduate students, or very recent graduates, joining our distinguished roster of instructors this fall. Please “meet” them by reading their bios and course titles, below. They are excited to get to know Osher members and join our learning community. Many of us have been where they are before, just starting out on careers. Let’s welcome and support them!

Alexander Harrelson is a 24-year-old tenor pursuing a DMA at the University of Utah. He studies under Dr. Robert Breault. At the U, he has performed as the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit in A.L.I.C.E., a new opera by Amy Scurria, as well as Marley, Fred, and Cratchitt in A Christmas Carol, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, the Defendant in Trial by Jury, and Ferrando in scenes from Cosi fan tutte. In addition to operatic performance, Alex performed Schubert's Die Schone Mullerin for his Master's Recital. As a lover of lieder, he has also performed Schumann's Dichterliebe and Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte. He looks forward to performing Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch in December. With Lyrical Opera Theater, he has performed Le Remendado in Carmen, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, Parpignol in La Boheme, and Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Other notable roles include Gastone in La Traviata and Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri. Alex regularly sings with the Cathedral of the Madeleine and in opera outreach within Salt Lake and Utah counties. He returns to Osher this fall to teach The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi: Classical Music for Voice on Mondays at 9:30 am in Room 238.

Beth Ann Friel is a full-time Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student and a part-time nursing instructor with a passion for lifelong learning and sharing knowledge with others. She brings over two decades of experience in nursing leadership within a large healthcare system, where she supported professional development, guided practice transformation, and championed nurse-led innovation. Her work has centered on mentoring new leaders, advancing nurses' professional practice, and creating environments where nurses and patients thrive. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in curiosity, mutual respect, and the belief that we all have something to learn and something to teach. Beth Ann will be teaching The Future of Healthcare: Artificial Intelligence, Aging, and You on Wednesdays at 3:30 pm via Zoom.

Dane Cannon is a PhD candidate at the University of Utah studying Management and Organizational Behavior. His dissertation examines peer support in the workplace. Dane will be teaching Supporting People through Hard Things on Monday, October 6 at 1:30 pm in Room 155.

Martina Hollearn is a fifth-year graduate student in the University of Utah’s Psychology Department. Her area of expertise is in memory enhancement research within the Cognitive Neuroscience field. Currently, she explores her research hypotheses in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy, which provides direct access to deep brain regions that control learning and memory functions. Martina’s prior experiences built expertise in neuroimaging and neuropathology techniques to understand various dementia types and differentiate them. She has 10 years of research experience, working alongside world-leading experts in dementia, memory enhancement, and emotional memory fields to further understand how memory systems operate and may be altered in individuals with neurological disorders affecting memory. Martina will teach Neurobiology of Learning and Memory: Theories and the Latest Research on Thursdays at 11:30 am in Room 238.

Merinda Gurney Cutler is a Masters of Public Administration and Public Policy candidate with a passion for civic engagement and policy advocacy. She has served as a neighborhood precinct delegate, helped with several political campaigns, sat on many school councils, and served as a poll worker in two states. She is deeply involved in grassroots organizing, working on many issues and bipartisan collaboration to create lasting change. As a dynamic educator, Merinda empowers individuals to use their voices effectively and build peacemaking skills for meaningful civic discourse. She is committed to strengthening civic participation, guiding others in impactful advocacy, and fostering collaboration and understanding across political and community lines. She delights in opportunities to inspire informed engagement and equip citizens with the tools to shape positive change in their communities on issues about which they care deeply. Melinda will teach The Art of Civil Dialogue: “Living Room Conversations” for Bridge-Building on Thursdays at 9:30 am in Room 138.

Dr. Miriam Kaiyo is an educator, researcher, and human development specialist whose work explores the intersections of psychology, spirituality, and social systems. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy from the University of Utah, where her research focuses on psychedelic therapy, trauma healing, and integrative models of care. With over a decade of university-level teaching experience, Miriam is known for her ability to make complex material accessible, meaningful, and engaging for diverse learners. Class members in her courses are encouraged to think critically, reflect deeply, and engage with both research and lived experience. Miriam’s teaching invites meaningful inquiry into the evolving landscape of mental health, the role of psychedelics in personal and cultural transformation, and the possibilities of more compassionate, integrative systems of care. She will teach

Healing and Transformation with Psychedelics on Mondays at 11:30 am via Zoom.

Sebastian Miscenich graduated from the University of Utah with an M.S. in sociology, specializing in the study of religion and political-economic development. He is currently working on a Ph.D. dissertation on the politics of African Christianity in the age of globalization, specifically focusing on the role of religion in the regulation of African sexuality. As a lifelong religion nerd, Sebastian has always been fascinated with peoples' senses of faith and belief. He loves sharing this passion through research and teaching. He will be teaching Sociology of Religion on Tuesdays at 3:30 pm via Zoom.

Wesley Peebles is an early career environmental and natural resources attorney. He is currently a Research Associate and Legal Fellow at the Law and Policy Program in the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment, where he has worked on issues related to permitting, public lands management, and critical minerals. A lifelong interest in nature and how humans interact with the environment has motivated his career, which began by obtaining B.A.s in Ecology and Sociology at the University of Georgia in 2020 and a J.D. at the University of Utah in 2024. Wesley is particularly interested in understanding how the law can facilitate science-informed policies and decision-making regarding land use, natural resources management, and landscape conservation. He will teach Legal Management of BLM Public Lands on Thursdays at 11:30 am via Zoom.

Our Osher Community

Did you know? Our online brochure each term features a handy calendar at the end! Our team of graphic designers and Osher staff carefully creates this calendar every term to help you schedule your classes. Click the link below, scroll to the bottom, and take a look!