Model United Nations Club

The purpose of Model United Nations is to promote awareness in global issues and international relations. Additionally, students have the opportunity to engage in problem solving skills, conflict resolution, research, communication, and have a chance to meet new people from different schools in the Knoxville area.

 

What is it anyway?  

Model United Nations is a club that goes to conferences that simulate the United Nations.  Students will take on the role of a delegate from a nation of their choice, typically working as a team,  and will work in various committees trying to solve world problems.  They take on the perspective of the nation they are representing, and have to play devil's advocate if the nation has an opinion different from their own.  

 

What do we do during meetings? 

The meetings are run by the co-presidents Jackson Looney and Mariana Natour.  These two plan out practices with the sponsor's help for the competition, working on the key skills to be successful at the conferences, such as mock debate (usually on pop culture before diving into the serious international affairs), parliamentary procedure, writing resolutions, research, and the various procedures for the security council.

 

How many conferences?

The club plans on attending three conferences this year: Vanderbilt, Chattanooga, and the University of Tennessee.  Attendance at all three is not required, but strongly encouraged.  Ideally members attend at least one.  The University of Tennessee conference is a great starter conference.

 

Expenses?

Each conference has a different price, but it gets cheaper when more students attend.  Conferences are three days long, and because they are not close, a hotel stay is required (except for UTK).  A meeting with parents will be in the early fall to explain the cost and so that parents can decide with their student which conference or conferences they can attend.  The club has no membership fee.  Students just pay for the conferences they want to attend.  The club sells coupon books in August to defray costs.  What an individual student sells goes directly back to that particular student to lower their conference costs.

 

Membership requirements?

Students who are interested in global issues and are committed to regular weekly attendance at meetings and plan on attending at least one of the three conferences.