<p>Hey! So, this is my first year doing Model UN and I'm super stoked! Last year I took an international relations class and my love for foreign affairs and politics grew. Anyways, getting to the point, I'm starting my research binder and I want to know what are some helpful things to include in it. Any advice or tips revolving around MUN are greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>Any world events are definitely necessary for a research binder. Is this for a specific conference, or just in general? Keep a history of important events (conflicts in the Middle East and other things) and each country’s position on it. </p>
<p>Depending on the conference you attend, the research binder can be near useless. I would just get super interested in the subject and read through tons of info. Bring maybe one page of statistics that you can use to look smart, but otherwise MUN is more of a social skills contest rather than actual history or academics. </p>
<p>Again, that’s depending on the conference. </p>
<p>We’re going to the conference at Duke this year, if that helps.
So pretty much just know almost everything on the country? </p>
<p>Have you gotten your Committee and topic? You should print out your topic synopsis , have 6 or more regular articles than pertain to your topic ( not all of them have to be about your country) have 4 or more UN Documents about your topic and have 4 or more resolutions to have background info and come up with better solutions in your committee. Have your speeches set and ready to present. You should also motion for things and comment. Don’t forget to be involved in caucus groups you all of this can help you win awards.</p>
<p>This is my advice on the research binder.</p>
<p>It’s very important, but you won’t use it <em>at all</em> during the actual session. Before MUN starts, do huge amounts of research on the following topics: Your country; all potential allies; the topic at hand; previous resolutions dealing with the same topic; ways to solve the issue. MEMORIZE everything. MUN is very fast paced regardless of what the conference is doing (caucus, speeches, etc). You will not have time to dig through a giant binder and find info on something. You have to know it off the top of your head.</p>
<p>Next point–don’t write speeches. This sounds weird, and it’s probably not at all what you were asked to do, but it’s valid advice. If you write an opening speech, chances are you won’t use it at all. Why? First, the length of the speech. One of the first things people do at MUN is change the designated speaking time. If your speech is too short/too long, it’s useless, meaning you’ll either have to add things or remove things. This breaks the speech’s natural flow. Second, you might be very late on the speaker’s list. This means your only chance to speak will be during moderated caucus. You don’t know the topics people will motion for during Mod. Caucus. You’re going to have to think on your feet, use the information you memorized and make up a speech. Third, MUN advances quickly and is often unpredictable. If your topic is the economy, you might have a speech on boosting growth rates around the world. However, if your conference decides to only talk about, say, youth unemployment, your speech will be useless. This is why you have to memorize the widest range of facts possible–you have to be prepared to speak about anything. </p>
<p>During Unmod. Caucus, you’ll be busy making friends and drafting resolutions. Unmod is all about getting your voice heard. You have to react quickly, assume a leadership role and constantly propose ideas. If you’re searching in your binder for some random fact, people forget about you.</p>
<p>What I’m trying to say here is that MUN is fundamentally something fast-paced and unpredictable, which means you should make a research binder on the most facts possible–even if they seem unrelated to the topic–and you should memorize the contents of that binder. The only way to succeed at MUN is to think on your feet, talk a lot and be social, and you can only do those things if you know everything in that binder by heart.</p>