SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The state of Missouri will celebrate its bicentennial later this year.

Missouri State University is kicking off a free webinar series called Missouri and MSU: A shared past, A vision for the future.

Changing lives through technology, science, and innovation is the first of seven webinars Missouri State will host this year to honor the state’s bicentennial.

“Missouri State has been in operation for most of those 200 years,” Brent Dunn the head of Missouri State University Foundation said.

Dunn, says these virtual events will work to engage people on the state’s history, as well as what the future holds.

“We’re discussing agriculture, diversity, education obviously and how Missouri State fits in with that, healthcare and we’re looking at Missouri’s caves, which of course we are a cave state,” Dunn said.

The webinars will feature MSU professors as well as other state experts.

“If you’re a history geek you’re going to love this series, ” Dunn said. “Really learning about the future it’s not just looking at the past but it’s looking what do these subjects hold for the future of Missouri.”

Director of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, Allen Kunkel, will serve as moderator for the first webinar.

“As Missouri is celebrating the bicentennial, technology plays a large part in our lives every day, especially now with COVID and how we interact and using technology and how it affects our human health and what goes into those elements,” Kunkel said. “I think it’s a good topic to lead off the discussion for MSU, and kind of what technology holds for the future and what we can expect.”

The webinars are an hour-long, with most taking place from noon to 1 p.m.

The first webinar is scheduled for noon on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.