The Dole Institute of Politics

Address
2350 Petefish Drive
Lawrence, KS 66045 United States Get Directions

The mission of the Dole Institute of Politics is to promote political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bi-partisan, balanced manner.

By providing a forum for discussion of political and economic issues, fostering public service leadership and encouraging participation in the political process, we emphasize that politics is an honorable profession and that only through political and civic participation can citizens redirect the course of our nation. While the objective is to accomplish this mission on a broad scale, our location at the University of Kansas provides a unique opportunity for outreach to young people and students.

We utilize the three distinct components of the Dole Institute to accomplish this mission: unique displays that tell the compelling story of Bob Dole’s life in the context of Kansas and The Greatest Generation; one of the largest congressional archives in existence which houses all of the Senator’s congressional papers; and finally, the vigorous public programming conducted by the Dole Institute.

Events at this venue

Today

  • The Boundless Game: Soccer Stories from Across the Street to Around the World

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Ahead of the 2026 World Cup Final, join author and historian Tim Bascom for a discussion on his new book, The Boundless Game: Soccer Stories from Across the Street to Around the World, which explores how soccer matters so much in our common, everyday lives, and how it brings the world closer together.   Limited […]

  • Sunday Jayhawk Jukebox ft. The Lost Keys

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    The Dole Institute, the Lied Center of Kansas, and the KU School of Music invite you to join us on Sunday, July 12, for Sunday Jayhawk Jukebox featuring The Lost Keys.     The Lost Keys are a family string band from Lawrence, KS. Headed by renowned fiddlers, artists, and multi-instrumentalists Tricia Spencer and Howard […]

  • Sunday Jayhawk Jukebox ft. Mire Pral

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    The Dole Institute, the Lied Center of Kansas, and the KU School of Music invite you to join us on Sunday, July 5, for Sunday Jayhawk Jukebox featuring Mire Pral's string Jazz music in the 30’s and 40’s styles of Django Reinhardt.

  • This Land is Your Land

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States
    Hybrid Event

    Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Beverly Gage joins former Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan to discuss her new book, This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip through U.S. History, ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Limited copies of This Land is Your Land will be available for free. […]

  • KPR 105 Live from the Dole Institute ft. Switchgrass String Quartet + JBs Tacos

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Join KPR 105 Live for a special performance featuring Dr. Susan Mayo and the Switchgrass String Quartet at the Dole Institute of Politics. Before their performance, enjoy food and refreshments from JBs Tacos, and family activities starting at 11:30 a.m. before the concerts begin at 1 p.m.     Dr. Susan Mayo has been part […]

  • KPR 105 Live from the Dole Institute ft. Maria The Mexican + JB Tacos

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Join KPR 105 Live for a special performance featuring Mexican folklore and Rock N' Roll artist Maria the Mexican at the Dole Institute of Politics. Before their performance, enjoy food and refreshments from JB Tacos, and family activities starting at 11:30 a.m. Free concert begins at 1 p.m.     Maria The Mexican is a […]

  • KPR 105 Live from the Dole Institute ft. Kelley Hunt and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg + The Mad Greek

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Join KPR 105 Live for a special performance featuring singer-songwriter Kelley Hunt and former Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg at the Dole Institute of Politics. Before their performance, enjoy food and refreshments from The Mad Greek, and family activities starting at 11:30 a.m. Free concert begins at 1 p.m.     Kelley Hunt’s love for […]

  • Kansas 1776: A Dynamic Landscape

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Although the land we call Kansas has changed greatly since 1776, it was already a dynamic cultural and environmental landscape before the “Founding Fathers” forged a new nation. Author and historian Adam Hodge discusses how human activities and natural processes alike had transformed Kansas over the course of millennia as a changing climate, Indigenous burning […]

  • KPR 105 Live from the Dole Institute ft. Elexa Dawson + Bao Wowz Food Truck

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States

    Join KPR 105 Live for a special performance featuring Kansas artist Elexa Dawson at the Dole Institute of Politics. Before her performance, enjoy food and refreshments from Bao Wowz Food Truck, and family activities starting at 11:30 a.m. Free concert begins at 1 p.m.     Elexa Dawson is a practitioner of the soul. Her […]

  • Napoleon: The Man and the Method

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States
    Hybrid Event

    Napoleon remains a character of endless fascination, even more than two centuries after his death.  The God of War, as one biographer identified him, conquered much of Europe before his ultimate downfall, and is often counted with Alexander the Great and Caesar as one of the greatest military minds in human history.  This talk will […]

  • The Operational Perspective: American Observations of the Franco-Prussian War

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States
    Hybrid Event

    This presentation examines the experiences of American military and political figures who were present in France for the Prussian victory in 1870-71 over Napoleon III, as well as the observations of newspaper editors and columnists in the United States opining on military events overseas. Some of these observers were veterans of the American Civil War. […]

  • Image of a U.S. military helicopter flying over an arctic tundra. Text reads Arctic Security: The New Front Line.

    Arctic Security: The New Front Line

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    Featured
    The Dole Institute of Politics 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, United States
    Hybrid Event

    Join Ambassador Mike Sfraga, former Ambassador-at-large for Arctic Affairs, and Colonel Russell Vanderlugt, commanding officer of the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division's Arctic Aviation Command, for a high-level conversation moderated by Dole Institute Visiting Fellow Jerry Seib on why the Arctic matters now—where diplomacy and military strategy converge amid strategic chokepoints, great power competition, and […]