Bard College Hosts Second Annual Model UN Conference
The Bard College Model United Nations Initiative hosted the second annual Bard Model United Nations Conference (BardMUNC) on Saturday, November 14 in Bard College’s Olin Hall. BardMUNC is the brainchild of various Bard-affiliated organizations as well as the Red Hook High School Model UN Team. The high school and college students collaborated to run a daylong conference hosting competitive Model UN teams from local high schools in Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Germantown, as well as the Bard High School Early Colleges in Queens and Manhattan. More than 200 students participated.
Professor Mark Danner was the 2015 conference guest speaker. His talk on the War on Terror during the opening ceremony was both insightful and timely, falling the day after the terror attacks in Paris, and drew a captivated crowd to Olin Auditorium. Danner is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities at Bard and a contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, and the New York Times Magazine. He received the MacArthur Genius Grant in 1999 and has documented international news in Haiti, the Balkans, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The conference broke up into four committees: the United Nations Human Rights Council on journalists’ freedoms; the European Union on the migration crisis; and two crisis committees on the Japanese Manchuoko, one committee representing the Kwantung Army Cabinet and one representing the Tokyo Cabinet. Students wore nametags representing their respective countries/committees and debated their strategies throughout the halls of Olin. BardMUNC’s simulations provided substantive experiences for students to explore international affairs as individual delegates debating ideas and negotiating legislation.
The success of the conference is based on the effort and support of the Bard Model UN Initiative, Red Hook High School Model UN Team, International Model United Nations Association, Bard Trustee Leader Scholar Program, Bard College at Simon’s Rock Model UN, Bard Model UN Team, Bard Center for Civic Engagement, and Red Hook Rotary Club.
The Bard Model UN Initiative (BMUNI) has the role of uniting all organizations involved to facilitate the conference. BMUNI connects Bard College students with high school students and faculty to assist in the establishment, development, organization, and education of Model United Nations (MUN) teams in the Hudson Valley. High school students meet on a regular basis to learn how to write foreign policy position papers, research and discuss international current affairs, and become confident public speakers. MUN teams attend conferences and engage in an expansive discourse with hundreds of other schools, drafting resolutions to solve the world’s most pressing international crises. BMUNI works closely with students at Red Hook High School and strives to provide support for a multitude of MUN teams in the region. BMUNI aspires to increase knowledge regarding the international community and to aid in the development of academic and social skills of participating youth.
Post Date: 11-23-2015
Professor Mark Danner was the 2015 conference guest speaker. His talk on the War on Terror during the opening ceremony was both insightful and timely, falling the day after the terror attacks in Paris, and drew a captivated crowd to Olin Auditorium. Danner is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities at Bard and a contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, and the New York Times Magazine. He received the MacArthur Genius Grant in 1999 and has documented international news in Haiti, the Balkans, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The conference broke up into four committees: the United Nations Human Rights Council on journalists’ freedoms; the European Union on the migration crisis; and two crisis committees on the Japanese Manchuoko, one committee representing the Kwantung Army Cabinet and one representing the Tokyo Cabinet. Students wore nametags representing their respective countries/committees and debated their strategies throughout the halls of Olin. BardMUNC’s simulations provided substantive experiences for students to explore international affairs as individual delegates debating ideas and negotiating legislation.
The success of the conference is based on the effort and support of the Bard Model UN Initiative, Red Hook High School Model UN Team, International Model United Nations Association, Bard Trustee Leader Scholar Program, Bard College at Simon’s Rock Model UN, Bard Model UN Team, Bard Center for Civic Engagement, and Red Hook Rotary Club.
The Bard Model UN Initiative (BMUNI) has the role of uniting all organizations involved to facilitate the conference. BMUNI connects Bard College students with high school students and faculty to assist in the establishment, development, organization, and education of Model United Nations (MUN) teams in the Hudson Valley. High school students meet on a regular basis to learn how to write foreign policy position papers, research and discuss international current affairs, and become confident public speakers. MUN teams attend conferences and engage in an expansive discourse with hundreds of other schools, drafting resolutions to solve the world’s most pressing international crises. BMUNI works closely with students at Red Hook High School and strives to provide support for a multitude of MUN teams in the region. BMUNI aspires to increase knowledge regarding the international community and to aid in the development of academic and social skills of participating youth.
Post Date: 11-23-2015