VIU hosts Model United Nations conference for high school students

Eighty Vancouver Island high school students will gather at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo to practise international diplomacy skills this week.

The students will attend VIU’s second Model United Nations conference Feb. 24 to 27. The conference is organized by the Vancouver Island University Model United Nations Club and co-hosted by VIU’s Global Studies and the Political Science programs under the guidance of Global Studies and Political Science professors Catherine Schittecatte and Allan Warnke.

"This is a great example of experiential learning at VIU,” said Schittecatte. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for high school students to engage in international debate on pressing global issues and enhance their skills in public speaking, debating, diplomacy and negotiation.

“At the same time, the participating high school students are being mentored by VIU student leaders who have already developed excellent skills in these areas.”

A team of VIU students has been working with Schittecatte and Warnke for several months to organize the four-day conference. The students were enrolled in a new Political Science course last semester on negotiations and diplomacy team taught by Schittecatte and Warnke.

Global Studies student Kegan Pepper-Smith, also acting as Assistant Secretary General for the model UN conference, said the class challenged students to learn.

The theme of the four-day conference is the Millennium Development Goals.

High school teams registered so far include Dover Bay, Nanaimo District Secondary, and Woodlands Secondary from Nanaimo, Malaspina International High School, Ballenas Secondary in Parksville, Kwalikum Secondary in Qualicum Beach, Lake Trail Middle School and Mark R. Isfeld Secondary in Courtenay.

Each team will represent a particular country, and delegates will serve on five simulated United Nations committees to discuss issues including terrorism and combating the use of child soldiers.

Delegates must follow protocol, diplomatic language, dress code and rules for speaking, including how to address fellow delegates and how to break into informal groups to negotiate.

"They're expected to come fully prepared to debate their country's position on various issues," said third-year Global Studies student Gillian Smith, Secretary General for the conference.

"As United Nations diplomats, their job is to debate, persuade and negotiate with other committee members in order to reach resolutions."

A team of 20 VIU students from Global Studies and Political Science programs have devoted hundreds of hours to help organize the conference.

"It's been an enormous amount of work but everyone involved feels that it's important to give high school students the opportunity to participate in a conference like this," said Smith.

VIU club members have attended Model United Nations conferences at the university level and appreciate first-hand the value of this type of learning experience.

Pepper-Smith hopes the conference will encourage high school delegates to consider the field of international relations when they attend university and pursue their careers.

They can look to VIU Global Studies graduate Andjela Poljak for inspiration. While a student at VIU, she helped organize the first model United Nations conference in 2006. She recently started working as a consultant for the United Nations in Serbia.

To find out more about the upcoming VIU Model United Nations conference, visit http://www.viumun.com/ , a website created by VIU Media Studies graduate Reiko Allen.