What is Model UN?

The Model UN is a simulation of the principal organs of the United Nations (i.e., UN General Assembly, Security Council and ECOSOC).  The program is designed to educate individuals about the activities of the UN, including current events, pressing international issues, basics of international law, and diplomatic protocol/procedures.

Conference Activities
When students serve as delegates during national Model UN conferences, they will participate in formal and informal caucusing (debate), negotiate with other representatives, and write resolutions or amendments.

The students take on the full role of delegates of the countries that they represent and must vote and negotiate according to that country’s positions on various issues.

Preparation Courses
To prepare for national Model UN conferences, CMU students participate in a course taught by a professor from the Department of Political Science.

This course is designed to provide students with an orientation to the activities of the United Nations, as well as foster an understanding of the modalities of international diplomacy.

At the beginning of the semester, CMU students are assigned a country to research and represent at a national Model UN conference, such as the National Model United Nations in New York or the American Model United Nations in Chicago.

The student delegates spend time researching both the country they are representing at the simulation and that country’s position on issues that are currently on the agenda of the UN.

In order to prepare themselves to act as diplomats at the conference, students draft speeches and position papers, learn the parliamentary rules and procedures that are practiced at the UN, and hold practice simulations.

Benefits to Students
Students who participate in the Model UN program learn valuable skills in public speaking, debate, critical thinking and dispute resolution.

The discussions and resolutions that they work through with other delegates during the Model UN conferences are unpredictable, challenging and rewarding.

By adopting the role of another country, the students earn experience in international relations that enables them to view important issues through a new perspective.

Funding Needs
The CMU students who participate in the Model UN program are required to cover the expenses of attending the national Model UN conferences. These costs include: