Model United Nations Project
For this project, at the beginning everyone in our class was assigned a country, and before we decided what world issue we wanted to study as a class, we first researched both our country and the United Nations and what their mission was. We then began to study the first issue of our project, North Koreas nuclear weaponry, and went through a course of writing papers to gain a deeper understanding of the issue and our countries perspective on it. This included writing a resolution, written in the same format used for the actual United Nations, and after each person in the class wrote their own, four were drafted to be argued in the final MUN conference. For our final exhibition, we studied the Israel Palestine issue, and had to each give a speech as our country, holding our countries perspective. The main goal of our exhibition was to reach consensus and have one of the four drafted resolution passed.
North Korea Policy Paper and Resolution
policypaper_(2).pdf | |
File Size: | 148 kb |
File Type: |
resolution.pdf | |
File Size: | 51 kb |
File Type: |
Israel Palestine Policy Paper and Resolution
policypaper_(1).pdf | |
File Size: | 196 kb |
File Type: |
l_hoselton_resolution.pdf | |
File Size: | 180 kb |
File Type: |
Project Reflection
1. What would you tell another student if they asked why the MUN project was important?
Something that I would tell a fellow student if they asked why the Model United Nations project was important is that it is something that should be cherished; knowing about the current world issues. At first I was very skeptical about this project, but after digging deeper and learning about the issues that we researched over the course of this project. After learning about both the North Korea and the Israeli Palestinian issues, I gained interest and this drove me to participate in class more and have good reasoning when we were debating both in class and in the MUN conference. I would recommend to future students to go into the project open minded of the issues they are studying. This will help them gain understanding of the issue as something that is actually happening in our world today, as well as help hold your countries perspective in debates. Having an insight to current world issues will help them develop a more deep understanding to what is happening around the world, how it affects our everyday lives, and will also change their perspective on things that they originally thought were true, but turn out to be the opposite. I have heard several people in my class say how when they watch the news now, they will be thinking ‘That isn’t true’ just because of this project. This project will change everyones opinion, making them realize things they hadn’t before.
2. Which HOHAM were you most proud of using during the conference?
The habit of heart and mind that I am most proud of using during the conference is perspective. I feel as though this was my strongest point due to the fact that since we were assigned a country, and part of our grade was holding the perspective that our country held about the issue we were studying, this really showed through in the conference. Although both of the issues were very complex and I could see both sides of the argument, sticking to what my country, France, thought was very important. I think that this specifically showed through in the conference when I had a discussion with Israel. France was fairly neutral about the Israel Palestine issue, and by holding my perspective, I had conversation with Israel during an unmoderated caucus about what we both would be willing to do in order for me to vote for their resolution rather the the one I had originally planned on voting for. This proved that I was seeing both sides of the argument and collaborating with those who wrote resolutions for both sides. I think this is very important in the studying of these types of subjects.
3. What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and how did you work through it?
The greatest challenge I faced in this project was using my research skills to find dependable sources that were informational and provided me with what I needed. I found some very interesting facts about France and their stance on whether the Palestinians should be allowed the right of return. The following is an interesting quote that I found when I was researching about a statement France made about how they believe the Palestinians should be recognized as their own state, from the Haaretz website: “He noted that the vote was not aimed against Israel, but an effort to prevent further unilateral steps that would strengthen extremists on both sides.” Finding this quote was very important because it gave me even more insight into Frances point of view and showed me that France did not have anything against the Israelis. I worked through this issue by basically going to websites that I knew would have correct and reasonable information that I could rely on. This included going to the actual United Nations website and finding information. I knew that this would be a reliable source. Working through this challenge may have been hard, but it resulted in success with reliable quotes as well as sources.
4. What was the most interesting speech, resolution, amendment, or comment made by one of the delegates?
I think that the most interesting speech that was given was one given by the United States delegate. He did a very good job of putting his point across and clearly telling everyone what the United States believed and stood for. This specifically showed through in when he dropped an intellectual bomb, stating how the resolutions were ‘unbinding and Israel does not have to go along with it if they do not please’, since it was addressed to the general assembly. This really made everyone's jaw drop and realize that if this were true, we needed to talk with Israel and figure something out that would ultimately be successful in the end. I think that the argument made everyone look up and think about what the next step would be in order to reach consensus and come to a solution. I believe that this was the most interesting because the United States held true to their perspective and put their perspective out in a very strong way, proving their point thoroughly.
Something that I would tell a fellow student if they asked why the Model United Nations project was important is that it is something that should be cherished; knowing about the current world issues. At first I was very skeptical about this project, but after digging deeper and learning about the issues that we researched over the course of this project. After learning about both the North Korea and the Israeli Palestinian issues, I gained interest and this drove me to participate in class more and have good reasoning when we were debating both in class and in the MUN conference. I would recommend to future students to go into the project open minded of the issues they are studying. This will help them gain understanding of the issue as something that is actually happening in our world today, as well as help hold your countries perspective in debates. Having an insight to current world issues will help them develop a more deep understanding to what is happening around the world, how it affects our everyday lives, and will also change their perspective on things that they originally thought were true, but turn out to be the opposite. I have heard several people in my class say how when they watch the news now, they will be thinking ‘That isn’t true’ just because of this project. This project will change everyones opinion, making them realize things they hadn’t before.
2. Which HOHAM were you most proud of using during the conference?
The habit of heart and mind that I am most proud of using during the conference is perspective. I feel as though this was my strongest point due to the fact that since we were assigned a country, and part of our grade was holding the perspective that our country held about the issue we were studying, this really showed through in the conference. Although both of the issues were very complex and I could see both sides of the argument, sticking to what my country, France, thought was very important. I think that this specifically showed through in the conference when I had a discussion with Israel. France was fairly neutral about the Israel Palestine issue, and by holding my perspective, I had conversation with Israel during an unmoderated caucus about what we both would be willing to do in order for me to vote for their resolution rather the the one I had originally planned on voting for. This proved that I was seeing both sides of the argument and collaborating with those who wrote resolutions for both sides. I think this is very important in the studying of these types of subjects.
3. What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and how did you work through it?
The greatest challenge I faced in this project was using my research skills to find dependable sources that were informational and provided me with what I needed. I found some very interesting facts about France and their stance on whether the Palestinians should be allowed the right of return. The following is an interesting quote that I found when I was researching about a statement France made about how they believe the Palestinians should be recognized as their own state, from the Haaretz website: “He noted that the vote was not aimed against Israel, but an effort to prevent further unilateral steps that would strengthen extremists on both sides.” Finding this quote was very important because it gave me even more insight into Frances point of view and showed me that France did not have anything against the Israelis. I worked through this issue by basically going to websites that I knew would have correct and reasonable information that I could rely on. This included going to the actual United Nations website and finding information. I knew that this would be a reliable source. Working through this challenge may have been hard, but it resulted in success with reliable quotes as well as sources.
4. What was the most interesting speech, resolution, amendment, or comment made by one of the delegates?
I think that the most interesting speech that was given was one given by the United States delegate. He did a very good job of putting his point across and clearly telling everyone what the United States believed and stood for. This specifically showed through in when he dropped an intellectual bomb, stating how the resolutions were ‘unbinding and Israel does not have to go along with it if they do not please’, since it was addressed to the general assembly. This really made everyone's jaw drop and realize that if this were true, we needed to talk with Israel and figure something out that would ultimately be successful in the end. I think that the argument made everyone look up and think about what the next step would be in order to reach consensus and come to a solution. I believe that this was the most interesting because the United States held true to their perspective and put their perspective out in a very strong way, proving their point thoroughly.