Published on Show Me Mizzou Dec. 17, 2025
This fall, the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy welcomed two new faculty members to lead a new initiative on Missouri history and politics. Through this initiative, Jarod Roll and Scott LaCombe are providing opportunities for students to understand our state, why it matters, and its significance within the nation and the larger world community.
The Missouri initiative at Kinder began in Fall 2025 and is already involving students in its work through the ASH Scholars program, a joint venture between the MU Honors College and the Office of Undergraduate Research that supports undergraduate student research in the arts, social sciences or humanities. The institute sponsors ASH teams in public history, Missouri state politics and the Missouri-Kansas Border War, with a fourth Missouri history team beginning in fall 2026.
“ASH students can become not just knowledge consumers but also knowledge generators through this program,” says Scott LaCombe, assistant professor of Missouri politics and constitutional democracy. “My research team is studying how states, particularly Missouri, are operating as laboratories for democracy in a federal system that often has partisan gridlock and polarization.”
Another Missouri-focused ASH project will begin in in fall 2026. “We are going to study the broad history of the Lake of the Ozarks to add historical depth and complexity to people’s understanding of why the lake exists, why it is as it is today, and what the consequences of that are for the state,” says Jarod Roll, professor of Missouri history and constitutional democracy.
These ASH projects are just the start of the Kinder Institute’s Missouri initiative. “The goal of this program is to create opportunities for students to deepen their engagement with Missouri’s history and politics, with the goal of preparing civic-minded leaders who are trained to appreciate and meet the needs of Missourians in the future,” Roll says.
Along with the undergraduate research projects, Roll and LaCombe will lead new courses and a Missouri Studies minor as well as launch community engagement opportunities including a lecture.
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