News

2008.0525

A UN Day for NTNU IASC Members

By Diana Meng Campus Reporter National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) International Affairs Study Club (IASC) members experienced diplomats’ jobs as IASC organized NTNU Model United Nations (NTNUMUN) at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) today. The activity, which began at 8am and was concluded at 5pm, simulated a UN conference, that included nine countries – France, Germany, India, China, South Africa, Turkey, Russia, the U.S. and the U.K., which was organized for discussions over human right issues, especially those topics that concerned ethnic minorities. During the conference, delegates went through proposals, stated their stances and reached compromises just like what would happen during a real UN conference or meeting in New York City. IASC, the newly established student club since last fall, said that this activity would be organized because NTNU has been off the hook with international realm. "This activity offered every participant a taste of what an international conference and being a UN delegate is all about,” said Jasper Chen(陳柏維), secretary general and chairman of the NTNUMUN and a junior from the English Department.  “In addition, participants would learn more through the activity and care more about international affairs.” Education major Regina Chow (周伶穎), who is a junior and was simulating British delegate during the activity, considered taking part in the event a chance to challenge herself for conference speaking, and to have better understanding of the country that she was representing. "Through the activity, I realized how important it is to be aggressive to speak up for your own country and that only having mutual knowledge can we know how to survive in the global society,” she said. According to Wikipedia, Model United Nations (informally abbreviated as Model UN or MUN) is an academic simulation of the UN that aims to educate participants about civics, effective communication, globalization and multilateral diplomacy.  In Model UN, students take on roles as foreign diplomats and participate in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization.  Participants research a country, take on roles as diplomats, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world problems. The earliest Model UN with records can be dated back as early as the 1920s. American students were participating in collegiate simulations of the League of Nations, the predecessor to the UN.  Up to today, more than 400,000 middle school, high school and college/university students worldwide participated every year, and the popularity continues to grow.