Nestled in a classroom at the Wichita State west campus sits a “quirky” group.

The class is called “Quirky Kansas,” and it teaches students to explore a unique, or “quirkier” side of the Sunflower State.

Topics include great ghosts of Kansas, celebrities, festivals and eateries.

“I love the sunsets, the sunrises, the weather and the way it changes,” said student Jo Hillen. “I wanted to learn more about the state that I dearly love.”

Wednesday’s lecture encompassed Kansas musicians and famous melodies.

“It’s the arts who most define our heart and spirit,” class instructor Beccy Tanner said. “The arts allow us to look within our soul.”

A native of Bentley, guest speaker Orin Frieson is a radio personality and a recent Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee.

“I love the heritage and the cowboy heritage,” he said. “It’s home and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

“I wanted to do this so you guys can start understanding that there are so many amazing things that come from Kansas,” Tanner interjected to her students.

“There are so many things about our legacy that other states, such as Texas, claim,” she joked.

Tanner is a fourth-generation Kansan, serves as the Kansas history writer for the Wichita Eagle, where she has been for the past 32 years, and teaches Kansas history classes at WSU. This is her first year teaching “Quirky Kansas.”

“I wanted to teach something that would be my ideal class, which teaches elements of some of the very best of Kansas — the music, the food, the great ghost, some of those things,” she said. “And the university wanted to appeal to senior citizens.”

The class will participate in a variety of field trips, including the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Ellinwood Tunnels and Ted Turner’s Ranch.

“The idea is to explore Kansas. Just to get out there and to not be afraid.”