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Lifelong Learners Thrive at Boise State’s Osher Institute
Bae Emilson, once the director of programs at BSU, now serves her community through volunteering and board service. She appreciates the way Osher broadens her knowledge through engaging courses. PHOTO BY KAREN DAY
BY SONYA FEIBERT KUHN
When she was 10, Kathryn Baerwald decided there were two things she would be when she turned 65. The first was that she was going to become eccentric. The second? That she would take oboe lessons.
True to her younger self, Baerwald began taking oboe lessons when she turned 65. “I’m a huge believer in lifelong learning,” she said.
Baerwald’s aunt helped jumpstart young Kathryn’s curiosity. “She had a master’s degree, and her husband taught at Marquette University, so she was able to take classes there,” Baerwald shared. “Up until she died, she was taking classes towards her PhD. She set this example of how important it is to keep learning, to keep exercising your brain.”
A retired lawyer who spent most of her 45-year career serving not-for-profit institutions, including as the deputy general counsel of Georgetown University, Baerwald has lived well by her aunt’s example. For the last few years, she’s been taking classes at the Osher Institute at Boise State University. Baerwald and her husband connected with Osher when they moved to Boise from the DC area. It’s turned out to be an incredible way to connect with people in a new city.
“Osher provides a kind of community,” she explained. “It’s a great way to meet people. My husband and I have made a lot of friends.”
For Baerwald, there’s always more to learn. She’s become better acquainted with the fauna of Idaho through courses on raptors, taken courses on gothic fiction that opened her mind to the genre, and is currently taking a course on the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory. “I’ve deliberately taken courses on topics that introduce me to something new,” she said.
Outside of classes, she also serves on a curriculum committee to bring and recommend speakers to Osher and volunteers as a Guardian Ad Litem for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). “My job is to represent the voice of the kids,” Baerwald shared of her role.
Baerwald continues to play the oboe, contributing music to her church and the Capital City Mulligan Band. As for becoming eccentric? “Most of my friends, family, and acquaintances are of the opinion that I reached that goal long before I hit 65,” she said.
Baerwald is in good company with Bae Emilson, a fellow knowledge-seeker and volunteer extraordinaire at the Osher Institute. In Emilson’s retirement, the former director of programs at BSU has served on the advisory board and headed committees that support Osher’s programming. She also serves on a board with St. Luke’s and supports volunteers there.
Like Baerwald, Emilson is taking the class on the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory. She gets excited talking about the instructor, Dr. Richard Bell, a professor from the University of Maryland. “He’s a wonderful presenter,” she shared. “It’s exactly what makes Osher so engaging: I get to take what I know on the surface and dive deeper.”
Emilson is also taking a class on Rockamanoff and discovering more about the music she loves. Even with more familiar subject matter, it’s an opportunity to learn and satiate her curiosity.
“This is a place where you can learn and explore,” she said of Osher. “There’s everything from art history to science and technology. Having that range of programs in one place is enormously valuable.”
Emilson recalls how Osher quickly pivoted at the beginning of the Covid pandemic to continue serving the community.
“In a very short period, Osher flexed and developed the capacity to deliver programs online. I’ve talked with people for whom that was a lifeline,” she said.
Does Emilson have a favorite class? “It would be really hard to pick a favorite!” she said. Emilson highlights Dr. David Adler, a constitutional scholar whose presentations have given her new insights into the Constitution as a living document.
Artist Kellie Cosho shares Emilson’s enthusiasm for Dr. Adler’s classes, as well as Dr. Sheldon’s. Name a class, and Cosho has, or is, likely taking it. “I take about all of them,” she said. “I love the history classes.”
Cosho is a painter who’s been creating art since she can remember. You’ve likely seen her paintings around Boise, including on the Boise State University campus and at Boise Open Studios Collective Organization.
As Cosho describes it, for the last 20 years she’s painted to please herself. Along the way, she’s garnered a fan base that appreciates her colorful, engaging artwork. Most recently, Cosho has been working on a series of abstract paintings that bring to life an idea that came to her in a dream.
By her estimate, Cosho’s been featured in at least 32 galleries in the Northwest. That number might pale in comparison to the number of continuing education classes she has taken. Cosho was, as she described it, “a member of Osher before it was Osher.” A sociology major in college and a lifelong artist, she started taking classes because she was excited to keep learning.
Echoing her Osher colleagues, Cosho said, “Even when I think I know something, there’s more to learn. There’s always something you don’t know.”
Cosho is committed to the lifelong pursuit of learning. Between bringing her next painting to life and soaking up new insights at Osher, she’s making good on that commitment. Let the learning continue.
