The Kinder Institute at 5 Years

Celebrating Our First Five Years

The Kinder Institute
a Center of Excellence at Mizzou

Letter from the Directors

This past semester marked the fifth anniversary of the Kinder Institute’s launch at the University of Missouri. In October 2015,
we gathered with friends and students at the Reynolds Alumni Center to announce a game-changing $25 million gift from the
Kinder Foundation that would fund a signature academic center focused on the teaching and scholarship of America’s founding
principles and history. Our goal then was to create a world-class institute where students and faculty would study the history
and ideas that went into the American founding and consider their continued global relevance today. We envisioned the Kinder
Institute as an intellectual community that would carry forward one of the longstanding purposes of public higher education:
to equip the next generation of civic leaders with knowledge of the principles and structure of American government.

Several years ago, when shooting a promotional video, one of our students said this of the Kinder Institute: “It has given
me a much more positive view of the United States and of our politics and of our law, because it has given me an in-depth
understanding of why things are the way they are.” That student, Samantha Franks, has since gone on to graduate study at the
University of Durham as a Fulbright Scholar and is now finishing her final year of law school at the University of Michigan.
Many of our other students are also now finishing graduate school or law school, beginning careers, or starting new ventures.
One is a Greek Orthodox Priest, another a newly-elected member of the Missouri House of Representatives, and another a
strategy consultant with a global advisory firm in Mumbai.

It has been exciting to see this intellectual community grow. Our students, like our faculty, find themselves on different sides
of the political aisle, but they share in common an intellectual curiosity and a commitment to exploring American political
thought and history in all of its complexity. It would, of course, be accurate to describe the Kinder Institute as non-partisan, but
in an important sense we are pre-partisan. Before the partisan disagreements that mark our society, before our disagreements
about future policy, we must strive first to understand our past. Before advocating some change to our institutions, we must
first know how they were designed. We must seek to understand why things are the way they are.

The Kinder Institute is still a young organization, but we have hit a number of major milestones since 2015. We have recruited
world-class faculty, built a robust culture of academic workshops and lectures, edited an award-winning monograph series with
the University of Missouri Press, developed a new partnership with Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College, launched
several new major academic initiatives, and much else. Just over a year ago, we announced a second major gift from the Kinder
Foundation to support a new BA in Constitutional Democracy, MA in Atlantic History, and an undergraduate residential college.

Higher education faces a unique set of challenges right now, including a global pandemic that has put a halt to business as
usual, but we are weathering this storm and looking forward, with confidence and hope, to 2021.

As our programs continue to grow, so does our need for scholarships that will allow more students to take advantage of the
opportunities afforded by the Kinder Institute. We hope you will consider including the Kinder Institute Scholarship Fund in
your giving plans this year. It is a meaningful way to invest in our program and in the lives of our students. Thank you for your
continued support of Mizzou’s Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.

Sincerely,

Justin Dyer Jeff Pasley

Professor of Political Science Professor of History

Director, Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy Associate Director, Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy

In laying the groundwork for a new intellectual
community on the University of Missouri campus,
the Kinder Institute has taken a holistic approach,
combining aspects of academic life that are often
sealed off from one another. We have brought
together different disciplines and departments,
forged connections between teaching and research,
connected faculty with members of the community,and
united scholars of different ideological perspectives,
all in an atmosphere of collegial fellowship.Today,the
Kinder Institute is poised to become an international
leader in civic education and absolutely unique in
the civility of discourse with which we function.

The Kinder Institute
prepares students for
success as professionals,

scholars, leaders,
and citizens

Where Are They Now? CURRENTLY IN GRADUATE SCHOOL
Ashleigh Atasoy (Class of 2018): University of California-
JOURNALISM Berkeley Law
Tom Coulter (Class of 2019): State Government Reporter, Lane Burdette (Class of 2020): Texas A&M University, M.A.
WTE News (Cheyenne, WY) in International Affairs
Allie Pecorin (Class of 2018): ABC News D.C. Desk Senate Sonia Clark (Class of 2019): University of North Carolina,
Reporter Master’s in Public Health
Tessa Weinberg (Class of 2019): State Politics Reporter with Nora Faris (Class of 2018): Georgetown Univesity Law
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Samantha Franks (Class of 2016): University of Michigan Law
Bryce Fuemmeler (Class of 2020): University of Oxford, MSc
POLITICS in Economic and Social History
Regina Anderson (Class of 2019): Democratic Senate Katie Graves (Class of 2019): University of Virginia Law
Campaign Committee Gage Gripsino (Class of 2020): University of Missouri
Bishop Davidson (Class of 2017): State Representative Medical School
(MO-130) Kate Hargis (Class of 2017): University of Notre Dame Law
Nicholas Knoth (Class of 2018): Director of Government Affairs, Anna Jaoudi (Class of 2019): Villanova University Law
Columbia Chamber of Commerce Jane Kielhofner (Class of 2020): Harvard University
Emily Waggoner (Class of 2016): House Caucus Director Iowa Medical School
House Democrats Abigail Kielty (Class of 2018): Ohio State University, Ph.D.
in Political Science
LAW Jordan Pellerito (Class of 2017): University of Missouri, Ph.D.
Fares Akremi (Class of 2015): 2020-21 Clerk, D.C. Circuit Court in History
of Appeals (Stanford Law) Anne Russell (Class of 2017): West Virginia University, Ph.D.
Lauren Herbig (Class of 2016): Associate, Bryan Cave Leighton in Natural Resource Economics
Pasner (SLU Law) Faramola Shonekan (Class of 2020): University of Oxford,
Kamilah Jones (Class of 2015): Associate, Bryan Cave Leighton MSc in Global History
Pasner (Washington University Law) Jennifer Sutterer (Class of 2020): University of Notre
Dame Law
BUSINESS & CONSULTING Andrew Wisniewsky (Class of 2017): University of North
Thomas Cater (Class of 2020): Bain & Co. Associate Consultant Carolina, Joint J.D./M.S.L.S.
Anurag Chandran (Class of 2016): Dalberg Global Consulting
Mackenzie Elliott (Class of 2020): VMLY&R Global Branding MIZZOU LAW: Zeb Charlton, Carley Johansson,
Sarah Gillespie (Class of 2018): Tax Senior, Deloitte Consulting Sarah Jolley, Maddie McMillian, Peyton Rosencrants

OTHER MIZZOU M.A. IN ATLANTIC HISTORY & POLITICS:
Siobhan Conners (Class of 2020): Teach for America, William Bloss, Ian de Boer, Alex Galvin, Sijan McGinnis,
Kansas City Riley Messer, Mary Grace Newman, Jack Schappert,
Gabriel Gassmann (Class of 2019): Research Specialist, Claire Smrt
University of Virginia Curry School of Education
Grace Hodson (Class of 2019): PeaceCorps, Zambia (2019-20) MU DATA FELLOWS PROGRAM: Maxx Cook, Joseh Eagan
Sidney Steele (Class of 2020): 2020-21 Media Fellow,
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Undergraduate Excellence

From extracurricular programs, to undergraduate degrees, to study abroad
opportunities, the Kinder Institute provides MU students with multiple
ways to explore the global history of constitutional democracy.

Residential College

Mizzou’s first undergraduate residential college offers unrivaled
opportunities for first-year students interested in American history and
politics to live and learn together in historic Wolpers Hall.

B.A. in Constitutional Democracy

After completing the major’s required five-course sequence on the
intellectual and historical origins of the United States, students in the new
B.A. will continue exploring the development of constitutional democracy
in the U.S. and around the globe through interdisciplinary, upper-level
coursework that weaves together the study of History, Political Science,
Economics, Philosophy, Public Affairs, and more.

Society of Fellows

A truly communal academic experience, the Fellows program brings
undergrads and faculty together for a year to examine, discuss, and
write about the philosophical foundations and historical development of
constitutional democracy over time and across continents, and from a rich
variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives.

Kinder Scholars D.C. Summer Program

Blending experiential learning and scholarly coursework on the history of
American politics, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend a summer
exploring, interning, and studying in the nation’s capital. All students’
housing is paid for, and they receive a $1,000 living stipend.

Oxford Study Abroad

Through Prof. Jay Sexton’s spring-semester “Global History” course,
students spend a week at Oxford’s Corpus Christi College, immersed
in the academic vigor and cultural traditions of one of the globe’s most
storied institutions of higher learning.

New Graduate Degree Offered

M.A. in Atlantic History & Politics

The new M.A. examines the connections and conflicts among the diverse
peoples of the Atlantic basin, including the Americas, Africa, and Europe,
covering a broad sweep of time, from the dawn of European empires
through the age of revolutions and the more recent “American century,” in
situating the development of the United States in relation to the broader
exchange of ideas, goods, and power across the Atlantic world.

This one-year, 30-credit hour M.A., developed in partnership with the
College of Arts & Science, offers students a range of unique opportunities:
• Participation in the intellectual life of MU’s thriving Kinder Institute,

with class options in History and Political Science
• Study abroad at Oxford University (see more below)
• Regular guest classes from visiting lecturers, including Mizzou’s partners

at Oxford and South Africa’s University of Western Cape `
• Credit available for internship opportunities in research, public history,

and academic programming
• Potential to continue research at the Ph.D. level

Study Abroad

The M.A. kicks off with a 9-credit hour month of study at Oxford
University, through which students:
• Take classes and small group tutorials run by Oxford faculty
• Attend academic events held at the Rothermere American Institute,

the largest center for the study of the U.S. outside of North America,
and Corpus Christi College, founded in 1517
• Dine in the 16th-century Hall and reside in graduate housing at
Corpus Christi
• Go on excursions to sites of historical interest in England

Faculty in early America. Professor Conklin served Texas at Austin. Professor Dow’s research
as Associate Professor of History and Co- focuses on voting and elections, which he
Thomas Bennett Director of the Pre-Law Professional approaches from the public choice tradition
Thomas Bennett is Associate Professor of Program at John Brown University before in political science, as reflected in his recent
Constitutional Democracy at the Kinder returning to U.Va. to complete her Ph.D. book, Electing the House: The Adoption and
Institute and Associate Professor and Wall in History. Her dissertation explored the Performance of the Single-Member District
Family Fellow at MU’s School of Law, meaning of the pursuit of happiness in Electoral System (University Press of Kansas,
where he teaches constitutional law and historical context. March 2017). Professor Dow regularly
civil procedure. His research focuses on teaches courses on American government,
how complex civil litigation strains the Professor Conklin’s research has been parties and elections, and American political
relationship between state and federal published by the American Journal of Legal thought, as well as the “Constitutional
courts and impacts the separation of History, the Ohio State University Journal Debates” course for the Kinder Institute’s
powers. Professor Bennett’s scholarship on Dispute Resolution, the University of B.A. in Constitutional Democracy, and he
has appeared or will appear in the NYU Missouri Journal of Dispute Resolution, and also organizes the Jefferson Book Club,
Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, and the Washington University Jurisprudence an extracurricular undergraduate reading
the Minnesota Law Review. Before joining Review. Her recent book, The Pursuit of group that meets monthly to discuss great
the faculty in 2020, he was a Furman Happiness in the Founding Era: An Intellectual books in the classical liberal tradition.
Academic Fellow at NYU School of Law History, was published through the Kinder
and spent four years in private practice Institute’s Studies in Constitutional Democracy Justin B. Dyer
litigating appeals, complex civil cases, and monograph series with the University of Justin Dyer is a professor of political science
administrative matters. Professor Bennett Missouri Press. and director of the Kinder Institute on
is also a former law clerk to the Honorable Constitutional Democracy. He completed
Gerard E. Lynch of the U.S. Court of Professor Conklin teaches courses in his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at the
Appeals for the Second Circuit and the lawyering and dispute resolution at the University of Texas at Austin. His research
Honorable Jesse M. Furman of the U.S. School of Law and courses on intellectual and teaching interests span the fields of
District Court for the Southern District of and legal history at the Kinder Institute, American political development, political
New York. He holds a JD magna cum laude where she serves as Associate Professor of philosophy, and constitutional law, with
from NYU School of Law and a BA with Constitutionl Democracy. She formerly a particular interest in the perennial
honors from Swarthmore College. served as Director of Undergraduate philosophy of natural law. His most recent
Studies at the Kinder Institute, as well book, co-authored with Greg Casey, is A
Carli N. Conklin as coordinator of the Society of Fellows Guide to the Missouri Constitution, published
Professor Conklin’s research interests are in Program, Kinder Scholars D.C. Summer by W.W. Norton & Co. in February 2017.
American legal and intellectual history. She Program, and Honors College course series. He is also the author, with Micah Watson,
completed her B.S. in English and M.A. in of C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law
Education at Truman State University and Jay Dow (2016); Slavery, Abortion, and the Politics of
studied law and history at the University of Jay Dow is Professor of Political Science Constitutional Meaning (2013); and Natural
Virginia through a joint J.D./M.A. program and Constitutional Democracy and served Law and the Antislavery Constitutional
in American legal history. She was awarded as the 2017-2020 Frederick A. Middlebush Tradition (2012); and he recently co-edited
the School of Law’s Madeleine and John Chair in Political Science. Before coming the two-volume American Constitutional
Traynor Prize for her Master’s thesis, which to the University of Missouri, he earned an Law casebook, with Donald Kommers,
explored state court treatment of arbitration undergraduate degree at the University of Gary Jacobsohn, George Thomas, and John
Oregon and a Ph.D. at the University of

Finn. He regularly teaches undergraduate in the modern period, and the interplay of with a number of museums and public
courses on political theory and the U.S. national, transnational, and global histories. organisations in the UK, Europe, and
Constitution and graduate seminars on He grew up in Colchester, England, Australia. His current book project
public law. and read Modern History at Magdalen examines Britain’s historic relationship with
College, University of Oxford. He lived the world’s desert environments.
Connor Ewing in Tokushima, Japan, before returning to
Connor Ewing is a Kinder InstituteAssistant Oxford to complete his doctoral studies. Rodolfo Hernandez
Professor of Constitutional Democracy He has previously held positions as the Rodolfo (Rudy) Hernandez is a Kinder
and Assistant Professor of Political Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Global Institute Assistant Teaching Professor of
Science. Located in the fields of public History at Oxford, Lecturer in Imperial Constitutional Democracy and Assistant
law and American politics, his research and Global History at the University of Teaching Professor of Political Science.
interests span American political thought Exeter, and Reader in the History of Britain His research focuses on political theory
and development, constitutional law and and Empire at the University of Warwick. and American political development, and
theory, federalism, rights jurisprudence, his dissertation considers the political
human dignity, and constitutional design. Professor Fletcher’s research on the history economy of Abraham Lincoln’s thought,
His current book project, tentatively titled of Britain’s empire is wide-ranging, and has especially as it relates to the principle of
The Politics of Sovereignty: Federalism in appeared in Past and Present, The English equality expressed by the Declaration
American Political Development, presents a Historical Review, Journal of Historical of Independence. Recently his work has
reconstruction of the theory of American Geography, and Journal of the Economic appeared in The Political Science Reviewer. He
federalism that foregrounds the ways in and Social History of the Orient. He is the frequently teaches American Government,
which the Constitution structures contests author of British Imperialism and ‘The American Political Thought, and Race
over political authority and its location. Tribal Question’: Desert Administration and and the American Story. Dr. Hernandez
His work has appeared or is forthcoming Nomadic Societies in the Middle East, 1919- received his Ph.D. in Political Theory from
in International Journal of Constitutional 1936 (Oxford University Press, 2015), Louisiana State University (2017) and his
Law, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Tulsa which told the story of what happened B.A. from St. John’s College (Annapolis,
Law Review, and multiple edited volumes. when the British empire and Bedouin 1999). He previously taught as a Visiting
Dr. Ewing received his Ph.D. in public law communities met on the desert frontiers Instructor at Louisiana Tech University
and American politics from the University between the Mediterranean Sea and the and as a Senior Lecturer at Texas State
of Texas at Austin (Government, ’16), M.A. Persian Gulf. His second book, The Ghost University, and he served from 2018-20
from the University of Chicago (Social of Namamugi (Renaissance, 2019) provided as a Kinder Institute Postdoctoral Fellow
Sciences, ’11), and B.A. from the University an examination of mercantile ambition and in Political Thought & Constitutionalism.
of Wisconsin-Madison (Political Science imperial power in Shanghai and Yokohama He also has prior government experience,
& Philosophy, ’08). Prior to coming to in the mid-nineteenth century. including having been in AmeriCorps,
MU, he held positions at the University of having worked as a tax examiner in the U.S.
Toronto and the University of Virginia. Professor Fletcher has been the Principal Treasury Department, and eight years in
Investigator on a number of research the U.S. Army Reserve.
Rob Fletcher projects supported by the UK Arts
Rob Fletcher is a Kinder Institute Professor and Humanities Research Council, Jennie Ikuta
of British History and Professor of History including a Science in Culture award on Jennie Ikuta is a Kinder Institute Assistant
at the University of Missouri. His work the international campaign against the Professor of Constitutional Democracy
explores the history of Britain and its empire desert locust in the twentieth century. In and Assistant Professor of Political Science.
conducting his research, he has collaborated

Born in San Diego and raised in Yokohama, Approaches to the Political History of the Early implications for political influence. She
Japan, she returned to the United States American Republic (2004) and author of is a co-author of the Administrative
as an undergraduate at the University of “The Tyranny of Printers”: Newspaper Politics Conference of the United States’ Sourcebook
Chicago (2007) and completed her Ph.D. in in the Early American Republic (2001) and of United States Executive Agencies, and her
political theory at Brown University (2014). The First Presidential Contest: The Election scholarship has been published in political
Before arriving at Mizzou, she taught of 1796 and the Beginnings of American science, public administration, and law
political theory at the University of Tulsa. Democracy (2013), the latter of which was journals. Prof. Selin holds a Ph.D. from
named a finalist for the prestigious George Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from Wake
As a political theorist, Ikuta’s research Washington Book Prize. Forest University. Prior to pursuing her
interests center on the role of moral Ph.D., she practiced administrative law and
psychology in politics, especially in 19th- Al Zuercher Reichardt specialized in electricity market regulation
and 20th-century political thought. Her Al Zuercher Reichardt received a Ph.D. and alternative energy development,
first book, Contesting Conformity: Democracy at Yale University and joined the Kinder licensing, and regulation.
and the Paradox of Political Belonging Institute faculty in Fall 2018 as an Assistant
(Oxford University Press, 2020) examines Professor of Constitutional Democracy Jay Sexton
the thought of Tocqueville, Mill, and and an Assistant Professor of History, after Jay Sexton is the inaugural Kinder Institute
Nietzsche in order to investigate the notion spending a year as a junior visiting fellow at Chair in Constitutional Democracy and
of nonconformity and its relationship to the Center for Humanities & Information Professor of History. A native of Salina,
modern democracy. Her second book at the Pennsylvania State University. Prof. Kansas and graduate of KU, he returned to
project turns our attention to another Reichardt’s research revolves around 18th the Midwest to the University of Missouri
dimension of moral psychology—willful century European and Indigenous empires in 2016 after spending the better part of two
ignorance—to examine how it sustains in North America and the Atlantic World, decades at Oxford University in England.
racial injustice in the United States. with a project currently in the works that Sexton started in Oxford as a grad student
examines the contest for the American Marshall Scholar and worked his way
Jeffrey L. Pasley Interior in the decades before the American up to being Director of the Rothermere
Jeffrey L. Pasley is Professor of History Revolution and maps the development of American Institute and, upon his departure,
and Journalism and Associate Director communications infrastructure over the being elected to the honorary title of
of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional long Seven Years’ War. Prof. Reichardt’s Distinguished Fellow.
Democracy. A graduate of Carleton next project will turn toward the spatial
College, he was a reporter-researcher for politics of native and Euro-American Sexton specializes in the political and
The New Republic and a speechwriter for transportation landscapes, from the economic history of the nineteenth century.
Al Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign colonial period through the rise of the early His research situates the United States in
before entering academia. He completed American state. its international context, particularly as it
his Ph.D. in the History of American related to the dominant global structure
Civilization at Harvard University and Jennifer L. Selin of the era, the British Empire. He is the
taught at Florida State University before Jennifer L. Selin joins the Kinder Institute author of Debtor Diplomacy: Finance and
coming to Missouri in 1999. His teaching as an Assistant Professor of Constitutional American Foreign Relations in the Civil
and research focus on American political Democracy and Assistant Professor War Era, 1837-1873 (Oxford, 2005;
culture between the American Revolution of Political Science. Professor Selin’s 2nd ed. 2014) and The Monroe Doctrine:
and the Civil War. Professor Pasley is research illustrates that the structure of the Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century
co-editor of Beyond the Founders: New federal administrative state has important America (Hill and Wang, 2011). He also
has published two major collaborative

projects: The Global Lincoln (co-edited with Campus & Community Engagement
Richard Carwardine, Oxford, 2011) and
Empire’s Twin: U.S. Anti-Imperialism from Public Lectures
the Founding to the Age of Terrorism (co-
edited with Ian Tyrrell, Cornell, 2015). Our series of public events runs the gamut from our biennial Distinguished
His newest book, A Nation Forged by Crisis: Lecture, which has brought award-winning authors David McCullough and
A New American History, was published in Doris Kearns Goodwin to Columbia to speak at a pair of the city’s most beloved
October 2018 from Basic Books. theatres; to our more intimate Pursuit of Happiness Hour Colloquium Series,
through which faculty, students, and members of the community gather almost
Currently, Sexton is at work on a book every Friday during the school year in Jesse 410 to hear about cutting edge
that explores how steam infrastructure research on the forces that have shaped democracy from some of the campus’
conditioned the connections and relations and nation’s leading scholars of political thought and history.
between the United States and the wider
world in the second half of the nineteenth Conferences & Symposia
century. He also is co-editing the second
volume of Cambridge University Press’ From our quarterly Missouri Regional Seminar on Early American History, to
Cambridge History of America and the our annual Shawnee Trail Conference on American Politics & Constitutionalism,
World with Prof. Kristin Hoganson of to our recent international conference re-examining the Missouri Crisis at its
University of Illinois, and the two also bicentennial, the Kinder Institute provides multiple outlets for scholars of history,
recently completed a collaborative project political science and theory, law, and the humanities to share their research with
on “transimperialism”–the crossings and colleagues in rigorous, yet convivial settings.
intersections between empires in the
nineteenth century. Studies in Constitutional Democracy Book Series

Sexton enjoys working with enterprising Launched in 2016 with MU Professors Bill Horner and James Endersby’s Lloyd
students, undergrad or grad, who set their Gaines and the Fight to End Segregation, and now on its eleventh title, the Kinder
own intellectual agenda. When he is not Institute and University of Missouri Press’ award-winning Studies in Constitutional
reading or talking history, he is cheering Democracy monograph series explores the foundations, origins, evolution, and
for KC sports teams and following application of constitutional democracy around the globe from before the
British politics. American Revolution into the 21st century.

Kinder Forum Continuing Conversations

A new online series of sessions with noted historians, political scientists, writers,
and thinkers on topics related to our democracy, these classes bring the same
robust content that flourishes on the fourth floor of Jesse Hall beyond our local
campus. Each class runs for four weekly, one-hour sessions in which members are
in conversation with the featured speaker as well as fellow members of the cohort.

Race & the American Story

The Race and the American Story Project was created by Adam Seagrave and
Stephanie Shonekan while they worked together at the University of Missouri.
Since then, it has been brought to Arizona State University and the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, where the program has grown into a national educational
movement dedicated to cultivating conversation, fostering understanding,
broadening knowledge, and building community among people of different
backgrounds and walks of life in the U.S.

409 Jesse Hall
Columbia, MO 65211

@MUDemocracy
@constitutionaldemocracy
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democracy.missouri.edu