About

While the University of Missouri has maintained that mission, civic education still needs to be revitalized both on our campus and around the country, and centers such as the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy can play a major role in addressing this need by re-envisioning civic education for the twenty-first century. We are committed to pursuing excellence and thoroughness in the study of constitutional traditions and the complicated history of democracy in the United States and around the globe, and we have accomplished a lot in our short time on campus. Through our on- and off-campus undergraduate programs, educational outreach initiatives in the community and around the state, academic workshops, fellowships, faculty scholarship and teaching, and public events, the Kinder Institute has refocused attention and resources on the subjects that Jefferson tried to build into the heart of university education.

In laying the groundwork for a new intellectual community on the University of Missouri campus, we have taken a holistic approach, combining many aspects of academic life that are often sealed off from one another. Within the Kinder Institute, we have brought together different disciplines and departments, forged connections between teaching and research, connected faculty members with members of the community, and united scholars of different ideological perspectives, all in an atmosphere of collegial fellowship. There is much work left to do, but the last few years have marked a promising start to this important endeavor. Today, the Kinder Institute is poised to become a national leader in civic education and absolutely unique in the civility  of discourse with which we function.