IUS Times

United Nations event at IU Southeast Hosts Largest crowd Ever

By Ann McNally

The 17th Annual IU Southeast Model United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Conference for high school students was held on November 16th & 17th in the Hoosier Room.

Over the course of this two day event, high school students stepped into the shoes of ambassadors from around the world as they learned procedures from an actual U.N. event and debated global issues on behalf of their home "country."

This year over 210 high school students attended, making it the largest Model U.N. event ever at IU Southeast. Thirteen area high schools participated, coming from as far away as Zionsville and Indianapolis. IU Southeast students also participated in the event, generally acting as chairpersons for the councils. Many of our IU Southeast students participated in the Model U.N. conference when in high school.

The Model U.N. Security Council Conference closely simulates an actual U.N. event, including governance by specific rules of procedure that the students must follow. During the conference, the student ambassadors participate by making speeches, drafting resolutions, negotiating with allies and adversaries, and participating in conflict resolution. Such hands-on participation is a powerful educational tool. The students learn about global issues and consider potential resolutions to solve the world's problems. At the same time, they are developing skills in public speaking, debate, and negotiation.

This year's Model U.N. topics were nuclear weapons in Iran; children and war; the crisis in Darfur, Hizbollah, and Israel; and the future of Palestine.

Prior to attending a Model U.N. conference, students are asked to research the issue that their committee will be addressing. In order to ensure that the participants are able to interact in an authentic manner, they are also asked to do in-depth research about the delegation they are representing. This includes examining the foreign policies of the country, as well as what their needs and goals are for the future as it pertains to foreign policy. These needs and goals are heavily influenced by culture, economics, history, and geography of the representative countries.

Participating high schools for this year's Model U.N. were Arsenal Technical, Crawford County, Crawfordsville, Center Grove, Christian Academy of Indiana, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, New Albany, Salem, Scottsburg, Shawe, Silver Creek, and Zionsville.

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