About
Mission Statement
The mission of the Kinder Institute is to promote the study of the United States and constitutional democracy. This is a timeless mission, for all polities must create knowledge of where they have been so that subsequent generations can best choose where they shall go; but at a moment in which the very foundations of our political order are contested, it is also a timely mission. Our goal is to do our part to empower students through opportunities in and outside of the classroom so that they are best prepared to face the challenges of the future. The Kinder Institute seeks, in this, to regenerate U.S. constitutional democracy one student at a time.
Our Faculty and Students
Housed in the College of Arts & Science at Mizzou, the Kinder Institute is establishing itself as a leading center for the study of early American history, as well as the reverberations of this history through time and, crucially, across borders. The Institute boasts world-class faculty and staff, half-a-dozen postdoctoral fellowships, and a visiting fellow program that brings internationally-renowned scholars to the University of Missouri. Important, too, are our external partnerships, particularly our transatlantic connections with Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute and the Association of British American Nineteenth-Century Historians.
Of course, it’s only by engaging with students that the impact of our faculty and our partnerships can be maximized. Included among the programs we’ve designed to make this possible are: a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary B.A. in Constitutional Democracy; a one-year M.A. in Atlantic History & Politics, with a built-in month of study at Oxford; off-campus academic programs in Washington D.C., Cape Town, and the U.K.; and a fortnightly lecture series through which scholars from around the world come to the fourth floor of Jesse Hall to share their research with students, faculty, and members of our community.
Contacts
For questions about the Kinder Institute’s public programs, please contact Jordan Pellerito, Program and Multimedia Marketing Coordinator, at pelleritoj@missouri.edu. Questions about undergraduate programming can be directed to Dr. Thomas Kane, Kinder Institute Director of Undergraduate Studies, at KaneTC@missouri.edu