Model United Nations (MUN) is an authentic simulation of the United Nations General Assembly and other multilateral bodies. More than 400,000 middle school, high school and college/university students worldwide participate every year. Many of today's leaders in law, government, business and the arts participated in Model U.N. during their academic careers – from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and former World Court Justice Stephen M. Schwebel to actor Samuel L. Jackson. Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is a Model U.N. veteran as well.
Delegates
A Model U.N. delegate is a student who assumes the role of an ambassador to the United Nations at a Model U.N. event. A Model U.N. delegate does not have to have experience in international relations. Anyone can participate in Model U.N., so long as they have the ambition to learn about international affairs, and to work with people to try and make a difference in the world. Model U.N. students tend to go on to become great leaders in politics, law, business, and education.
Conferences
Some Model U.N. exercises take place at the regional, national, or even international level. Called conferences, these are large events with participants from all over the United States and the world. More than 1,000,000 people have participated in MUN conferences around the world since the conferences became popular over 50 years ago. Today there are more than 400 conferences that take place in 35 countries. Depending on the location, the average conference can have as few as 30 students or as many as 2,000.
At Samford University, we generally participate in two conferences a year — one national and one international.
Past Conferences
Geneva, Switzerland
In the spring of 2013, our students participated in the International Model United Nations conference in Geneva (GIMUN), held annually at the Palais des Nations, the European headquarters of the United Nations. It is the only Model United Nations Conference in the world which holds its entire conference within real “United Nations territory”. This gives participants the chance to explore the world of the United Nations, and provides them with realistic diplomatic perspectives that cannot be acquired in other circumstances.
Madrid and Salamanca, Spain
We went to Madrid and Salamanca, Spain in the spring of 2012. In Madrid, we were received at the Foundation FAES, the Government Palace and the Congress where we met with leading researchers in politics and economics. According to the MUN simulation organizers in Salamanca, Samford’s team was the most well-prepared of any of the teams by far. All of our students received personal awards – a testimony of their excellence. Because of their outstanding performance, our students also presented in the closing ceremony, which took place in the room where Christopher Columbus pleaded with Queen Isabella of Spain to obtain the three well-known ships which eventually landed on America’s shores.
New York City
The Samford MUN team attended the NMUN Conference in New York City in the spring of 2014. They joined more than 5,000 college/university delegates, half from outside the United States, who come to New York City each spring to discuss current global issues on twenty selected committees. In addition to conference sessions, they enjoyed the proximity to Permanent Missions, world-class museums, and the United Nations itself.
Rome, Italy
The Samford MUN team attended the ROMUN Conference in Rome, Italy in the fall of 2013. ROMUN is an extraordinary intellectual and social conference that brings together an amazing assortment of young minds from around the world to engage in cultural exchange and gain first-hand experience of negotiating processes by playing the role of diplomats for one week. The city of Rome is at the forefront of European and global diplomacy, hosting some of the most important international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Washington D.C.
While in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2012, students had the rare opportunity to hear Ambassador Sally Shelton-Colby, Former Deputy Secretary General for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as Helen Lowman, the Peace Corps’ Regional Director for Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia.
We will continue to attend exciting conferences in the future. If you are interested in this program and would like to become part of the team, please contact MUN/DC Careers program director Serena Simoni, PhD. Professor Simoni will select candidates through a screening process that includes an interdisciplinary advisory committee and MUN students.
