The US at 250
Throughout the 2025-26 academic year, the Kinder Institute will host a series of events commemorating the United States’ 250th anniversary, including a Global 250 spring lecture series, a podcast series hosted by our undergraduate ASH Scholars on the semiquincentennial from Missourians’ perspectives, a traveling exhibit on the national milestone, and, to kick things off, the inaugural Missouri Civics Bee, to be held right here in Columbia.
The kickoff event was held on October 14 lecture, with former South African Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs providing “A View from South Africa,” and we will resume programming in January 30, 2026, at the Tiger Hotel with Tamson Pietsch and Mario Del Pero providing their comments on “America at 250: A View from Australia, Italy, and France.” Links to RSVP for all spring lectures can be found in the sidebar.
Use the tabs below to find out more about 250 programming, and we will update this page with additional information as it arises.
MISSOURI CIVICS BEE
Presented by Google in partnership with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry
An annual competition that inspires young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities, the National Civics Bee launched in 2022 with the goal of bringing the competition to each state by the semiquincentennial. We helped our home state advance this cause by hosting the inaugural Missouri Civics Bee on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at 10am at the State Historical Society of Missouri (605 Elm Street, Columbia, MO).
Learn MoreFALL 2025 GLOBAL 250 LECTURE SERIES KICKOFF
As part of 250th programming, we’ll host a series of lecture that bring scholars from around the globe to Columbia to consider the significance of the nation’s birthday from international perspectives. While the bulk of the lectures will take place in the spring, we welcomed former South African Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs to campus on October 14 to kick off the series with a talk on “The US at 250: A View from South Africa.” Anyone who wasn’t able to attend can view a recording of the lecture here.
ASH SCHOLARS PODCAST SERIES (COMING FALL 2025)
Throughout the Spring 2025 semester, members of our semiquincentennial ASH Scholars team conducted a series of interviews with elected officials, public figures, university administrators, next-door-neighbors, and more to get Missourians’ thoughts on American history from the present day. That series is set to drop in Fall 2025, at which point attention will be turned to a traveling exhibit on the nation’s last quarter millennium.
SPRING 2026 GLOBAL 250 LECTURE SERIES
Starting in January and continuing at least once per month throughout the Spring 2026 semester, the Kinder Institute’s Global 250 Lecture Series features some of the world’s leading scholars of political history sharing their insights on the United States’ first 250 years from an array of international perspectives. The series will start with a conversation between Tamson Pietsch, Director of the Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology Sydney, and Mario Del Pero, a professor at the Centre for History at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, and will include scholars traveling from El Colegio de México, Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Oxford, and more.
Titles, dates, times, speakers, and RSVP links for all spring lectures can be found here, and individual posts for each event will be available prior to the state of the spring semester.