This guest article has been submitted by Udodilim Nnamdi, Secretary-General of the first Washington International Relations Conference (WIRC) hosted by American University in Washington, DC.
It’s Sunday afternoon. The impending gloom of the mountain of missed homework that awaits overwhelms you, cutting through your post-MUN “high.” Not even your recently earned “Honorable Mention for the UNSC” certificate that lies in your lap can comfort you. You know some of your teachers simply won’t understand that your missed assignments and lethargic attitude are a result of four days of marathon long committee sessions. Back at your high school, no one cares about parliamentary procedure or the resolutions your committee passed.
For many high school MUN-ers, this is a scenario that is commonly experienced. Unfortunately, the amount of days spent absent from school deters many high school students from participating in stimulating, informational simulations. In order to combat this ever present MUN issue, one conference in particular has sought to reform the way high school Model United Nations are formatted. The Washington International Relations Conference (WIRC) hosted by American University in Washington DC has emerged on the high school circuit as an alternative to the lengthy four day conference.
As a three-day conference, WIRC also features shortened committee sessions with interactive workshops lead by DC policy experts interspersed throughout the schedule. By holding optional workshops Friday afternoon and opening ceremonies Friday evening, WIRC eliminates the burden of missing class from younger, more inexperienced delegates. The shift to a three day conference schedule promotes WIRC’s central mission of serving as a teaching conference for delegates new to the MUN world. Rather than sitting through lengthy committee sessions, WIRC delegates will have the opportunity to improve their MUN skills on topics such as parliamentary procedure, public speaking, international relations game theory, and other skills guaranteed to increase their chance of success when they return to their committees. Capitalizing on the DC location and world renown School of International Service building and faculty, WIRC hopes to provide students with a unique, one of a kind experience-without having to sacrifice precious class time.
The Washington International Relations Conference (WIRC) theme this year is Global Transformations: Growing Consequences in a Shrinking World and will take place from March 28-30, 2014. Udodilim (U.d.) Nnamdi is this year’s Secretary General and you can reach her at un7301a@american.edu. For more information about the conference visit http://www.auwirc.org or email modelun@american.edu.
