So I’ve heard that in some schools a class for Model UN exists? My school’s club is pretty large and I’d really be interested in looking into starting a class. I want to expand on educating the students on international current events instead of them being mentioned in passing in AP Gov or something. We have a debate class but I’m more intrigued but the idea of a MUN class, is it like 1/2 discussing current events in the world and 1/2 writing position papers? I guess my real question is if anyone has any experience in a MUN or Current Events/IR/FP class (high school leveled) so that they could elaborate on what the criteria to run a class like that is, or if they even exist. Thank you!
MUN classes vary dramatically in quality, but core components will be active debate practice during class (kids need to be grilled on their research to make sure they’re ironclad prior to the conference), several stages of and class periods devoted to research and research methods (have you written position papers in one sitting? The night before the deadline? That won’t fly in a good class), and post-conference reflection and discussion.
Search for Mira Costa High School on Bestdelegate and you’ll find plenty of information about how MUN can be structured in a class setting. MCHS has been the top high school level MUN team in the US for the better part of a decade, and they have a very well developed MUN class.