Course Description
RECOMMENDED FOR: Juniors and Seniors
COURSE LISTING: Social Studies
APPROXIMATE TEXT/RESOURCES COST: $25
Model United Nations is an educational simulation and academic competition in which students learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. International Relations is an academic course designed to examine the behavior of nations and states both individually and collectively. When you combine the two—that is, using the Model UN platform to examine the state of International Relations today, you have an interesting, intriguing, and fun way to enhance both your perception of global issues and your position as a citizen of your country and the global community. This is not a course that will drown itself in theory. Rather, it is designed to offer opportunities for students to study modern global issues, and the positions and interactions of nations and states, through research, simulations, discussion, and written assignments.
Students are assigned a country at the beginning of the semester and represent that country during simulations, constructing position papers, resolutions, and amendments. Several seminars encourage students to participate in online discussion to resolve, or perhaps merely to understand better, an issue. Since committee work is such a vital part of the course, significant online interaction via email, video conferencing, or texting is a must for success. Simulations are based on the United Nations format. This course requires weekly engagement but is primarily asynchronous which allows students to work around their school schedule. There is a synchronous meeting that will take place one evening per week that students are expected to attend. Meeting times to be determined at the beginning of the term.