Model UN competes at MUNUC

March 23, 2010 • Ramsey Statz  
Filed under News

Over the weekend of February 5, the members of the FAHS Model United Nations took part in their first Model UN conference.

The conference, Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC), was held in downtown Chicago from the February 4 -7 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel.

Model United Nations conferences have been held since the 1950’s, with the goal of educating students about world affairs and putting into practice the arts of debate and negotiation.  Each person (called a delegate) is on a committee, which debates two different topics over the four-day conference.

At MUNUC, there was a wide array of committees that delegates could participate in, ranging from the Economic and Finance Committee, to Disarmament and International Security, to various historical simulations of past world crises.  The goal of each committee is to craft a resolution that solves or helps to solve the issue that the committee is presented with.

Because the goal of the conference is for delegates to gain a clearer idea of how real-world problems are solved, some students leave the conference with a less-than-favorable view of the United Nations.

“My personal view of the United Nations and governmental organizations in general changed a lot after the MUN conference. While it’s inspiring to see how much can change if everyone puts their heads together, it’s also discouraging to see how many refuse to be flexible and block proceedings at every step of the way,” Sophomore Chali Pittman said.

In addition to teaching principles of international relations, Model UN conferences also allow delegates to connect with peers. There were opportunities to socialize during break periods, before/after committee sessions, and at the delegate dance held in the Grand Ballroom of the Palmer House Hilton on Saturday night.

“The conference was pretty much awesome.  I got to meet a lot of cool people,” Pittman said.

Additionally, with modern tools like Facebook, delegates are able to keep in touch with friends made over the weekend.  This is useful because Model UN conferences are very much international events.  Some delegations came to Chicago from as far away as Beijing, China and the Netherlands.

The University of Chicago also sponsored an information session which anyone could attend to learn more about the university and to gain knowledge about college preparation in general.

Overall, FAHS delegates came out of the weekend having learned valuable knowledge about world affairs and having made meaningful connections with people from around the world.

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