Study at Oxford | Kinder Institute

The Kinder Institute offers three signature programs, all detailed below, that allow students to study abroad at University of Oxford, one of the globes most storied space of higher education. In partnership with the MU Honors College and Rothermere American Institute, we launched a summer school at Oxford in July 2025, through which students spend four weeks in the UK studying the Glorious Revolution and taking bespoke practicum courses designed by Oxford faculty. We also offer a weeklong, Spring Break trip to Oxford through our spring “Global History at Oxford” seminar, as well as a yearlong fellowship at Corpus Christi College. Application deadlines and materials for all three programs will be posted here, and contact Kinder Institute Director of Undergraduate Studies Thomas Kane, KaneTC@missouri.edu, with any questions.

FALL 2025 OXFORD DEADLINES

Back after a year hiatus, applications for the Spring Break 2026 trip to Oxford will open in early September with a deadline of November 1. Application materials, which run through the MU Study Abroad Office, can be found here.

The deadline to apply for the Oxford Summer School is also November 1, and the applications materials for that can be found here.

While materials for the yearlong Oxford Fellowship will not be due until Spring 2026, students who would like more information should contact Dr. Kane at the email address above.

Oxford Summer School

The newest partnership between the Kinder Institute and the Rothermere American Institute at University of Oxford, our Oxford Summer School provides MU Honors students with the opportunity to undertake a uniquely immersive four-week program of study each July in the U.K. Participants will pursue a bespoke curriculum delivered by Oxford faculty, live and dine in the halls of Corpus Christi College, and benefit from real insider access to the university’s buildings and resources.

Anyone with questions about the new summer school can contact Dr. Billy Coleman, Kinder Institute Associate Director, at colemanw@missouri.edu

IN THE CLASSROOM

Designed to complement the Kinder-Honors sequence in “Revolutions and Constitutions,” the Summer School will either zero in on a single case of their convergence with a four-credit hour, 3000-level class on the history and legacies of the Glorious Revolution or zoom out in a seminar (also 3000-level, four-credit hour) that thinks about how the timeless democratic themes of freedom, justice, and accountability to the common good have shaped the evolution of political institutions and governments in the UK, Europe, and wider world. Both seminars incorporate field trips and excursions to sites of relevance in and around Oxford.

NOTE: Students will be able to preference which of these four-credit hour seminars they would like to take, though we can’t guarantee that all preferences will be met.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

In addition to their core seminars, students will also choose between taking one or two practicums (two-credit hours each) that leverage the opportunities of place-based leaning at Oxford and the RAI in innovative ways. One of the practicum courses is based out of Oxford’s incredible system of museums and looks at using objects to understand history, while the other focuses on politics, public policy, and the role that the university plays in shaping both.

HOW TO APPLY

All Honors students returning to campus for undergraduate coursework in the fall are eligible to apply, though preference will be given to students who have completed all or part of the Kinder-Honors “Revolutions and Constitutions” sequence. Students interested in applying can do so through the MU International Center with a deadline of November 1. Students will be notified regarding admission into the program, as well, as any scholarship offers prior to Thanksgiving Break, and will need to commit to the program by December 5.

Oxford Summer School FAQs

Q: Are scholarships available?

A: Need-based scholarships from the Kinder Institute *are* available to help defray costs. Anyone who applies for the program by the November 1 deadline will automatically be considered for one of these scholarships, and we will outline any awards being offered to students when they receive notice of admission into the program prior to the Thanksgiving Break. After receiving this information, students will have until December 5 to decide to commit to the trip.

In addition, a selection of centrally-located study abroad scholarships not administered by or affiliated with the Kinder Institute can be found here.

Q: Okay, but how much does it cost?

Beyond scholarships, the Kinder Institute offers a significant subsidy to the costs associated with this study abroad experience. Our $494.50 “program fee” covers four full weeks of accommodation, a meal plan (including formal dinners), several field trips, and all administrative costs associated with program delivery. While students are still required to cover the cost of tuition and airfare, the scholarships are designed precisely to help reduce these expenses.

Q: Wait, do I enroll for six or eight credit hours?

Everyone admitted into the program will undertake a six-credit hour program of study, which includes the four-credit hour Glorious Revolution or Democracy in Theory and Practice seminar, and a two-credit hour practicum course on Oxford Museums or Politics and Public Policy. Students can take an additional two-credit hour practicum, but that is entirely optional, and this decision does not at all have to be made at the time that students are applying to the program.

Q: And when, exactly, is this program happening?

Students will arrive in Oxford on July 6, 2026, and the program will officially commence on July 7 and conclude on August 2, 2026.

Q: Okay, I’m in. Where do I apply?

Here! (By November 1)

Global History at Oxford

The first program of its kind at Mizzou, “Global History at Oxford” is both an intellectually rigorous, on-campus experience for students and an immersive study abroad opportunity. The core component of the program is the “Global History at Oxford” undergraduate seminar (HIST 4075 or 4075H), a four-credit hour, spring semester course that asks students to consider why national history emerged as the default method of studying the past and to examine the new, more complex narrative that is un-earthed by taking a more transnational approach.

Studying the rise of global empires and the development of global history prepares students for the program’s second component: a week spent embedded at Corpus Christi College. Over spring break, all students in the class traverse the Atlantic to spend five days attending seminars with distinguished faculty at Oxford and neighboring colleges, soaking in the rich social fabric of the campus and city, and touring the British countryside.

Oxford Fellowships

While a week spent studying at Oxford is certainly an invaluable experience, and the same is of course true of a full month, it also leaves students wanting more. Through the Oxford Fellowship program, ‘more’ is possible. The very best MU undergraduates will be able to spend an academic year as a fully-integrated, second-year student of history at Corpus Christi College. Oxford Fellows will have access to the full, three-term range of Corpus’ tutorial curriculum for history students and will be immersed in the culture and traditions of the College.

Rising juniors and seniors of any major at MU are eligible to apply for the Oxford Fellowship, though priority will be given to applicants with demonstrated aptitude for the study of history. Oxford Fellowship applications open with the beginning of each spring semester with a deadline of early April. Application materials consist of unofficial transcripts, a writing sample of 10-15 pages from a course in the humanities or social sciences, and a letter of recommendation from a full-time faculty member in the humanities or social sciences. Application materials and questions can be sent to Dr. Thomas Kane, KaneTC@missouri.edu.