Wright State’s Model UN team places for 40th consecutive year / Photo from Twitter WSU_MSN
The Model United Nations (UN) program at Wright State University (WSU) is now recruiting students for the Fall 2020 Semester who wish to grow their diplomacy and public speaking skills as part of a unique experience.
What is Model UN?
Model UN’s basis involves simulations of United Nations conferences where individuals and teams are assigned to represent countries in speeches and debates through different committees.
“In Model UN, you’re just having lots of conversations in lots of different ways, and you’re trying to influence the room,” said Model UN member Amani Wilson.
The program allows students, including Wilson and head delegate Jackson Cornwell, to gain important skills for their careers.
“It’s a great way to perform those essential professional skills,” Cornwell said. “You improve your professional speaking. You improve your business and research writing skills. You improve your diplomatic and negotiation skills. You really figure out how to work with someone one-on-one or find your place in a group.”
This program involves a political science class (PLS 4860), where students learn about diplomacy, public speaking and technical writing, as well as do outside research to further their knowledge on a given country or topic.
In addition, there are two conferences every year that WSU’s Model UN team participates in: the Dayton Model UN Conference (DAYMUNC), which is held at Sinclair Community College every February, and the National Model United Nations Conference (NMUN) in New York City.
Participation in NMUN has grown immensely since the conference began. According to WSU’s Model UN website, “more than 5,200 students from more than 400 colleges and universities from nearly 30 countries around the world have taken part in recent NMUN conferences.”
Currently, NMUN plans to hold hybrid conferences next year, while DAYMUNC 2021 will be held virtually.
Hands-on experience
According to Wilson, Model UN members never know what is going to happen at conferences until it happens.
“Every time is different. Every experience is unique. A good way of looking at it is that it can be as diverse as a conversation,” said Wilson.
The experience gained through these conferences has been positive for WSU’s Model UN team. Wilson regards his experience with February’s DAYMUNC conference as “great.”
“You get to see your strengths amongst people and your weaknesses, of course, with how you interact and how you collaborate,” said Wilson.
Cornwell mentioned that every conference he has attended has been rewarding for him, but each also presented a challenge.
“There’s always going to be a new type of delegate that you maybe haven’t encountered yet, or there’s a new global issue that has arisen that you’re going to have to be prepared to respond to,” Cornwell said.
Cornwell has been a part of the Model UN program since his freshman year at WSU and finds that there is always something new to learn when attending a Model UN conference.
“You can know all of the proper rules and procedures and Robert’s Rules of Order, but there’s still going to be a new social side that will occur in every conference,” said Cornwell. “I think that the most rewarding part is that I’ve gotten to see so much of the world without ever leaving Wright State.”
Signing up for the program
To apply for the Model UN program at WSU, interested participants can fill out an application that is located on the program’s website through Oct. 9. It is open to all majors and anyone in good academic standing can apply. Even if an interested party has no political background, they can still find a role on the team.
There is normally an oral interview for entrance into Model UN; however, that requirement has been waived this year due to the pandemic.
Wilson explains that for incoming Model UN participants, they should spread out their required research to succeed.
“It’s not too cumbersome if you spread it out, and it’s also very enlightening if you add it to your news sources every day. I would just say, take it in stride. Every day, do a little bit of research, and you’ll be fine.”
