Several Lee University students recently participated in the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Conference in New York alongside thousands of other students from universities around the world.  

NMUN is a simulation of the United Nations. At the conference, Lee students became diplomats, representing the interests of Guyana in the U.N. while also contributing ideas and working with diplomats from other countries to solve world problems. Each student focused on a different aspect of Guyana’s foreign policy. The goal is to work with other diplomats to write a resolution – an official document in which the U.N. makes policy recommendations on various global issues. 

“Model United Nations is such an amazing life-changing experience. In fact, many students who participate once often choose to take the class and join the conference again,” said Dr. Ana Shippey, associate professor of political science at Lee. “At Model United Nations, our students work together with thousands of other students not only from the U.S. but from all over the world. They get to experience how cultural differences matter and engage in global diplomacy for the sake of loving our neighbors well wherever in the world they are found.”  

To prepare for the conference, students take the Model United Nations course, taught by Shippey, where they learn about the United Nations, the country they are representing, and a specific foreign policy issue for which they must offer creative and feasible solutions.  

This year, students collaborated on topics including confidence-building measures, nuclear disarmament and international security, refugee protection and assistance, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, chemical weapons, peacebuilding in fragile states, the situation in Yemen, transforming food systems to prevent biodiversity loss, and environmental recovery in conflict-affected areas. 

Sophomore political science major Chenoa Ciro Jaramillo was awarded the Position Paper Award. In her position paper, Jaramillo offered practical solutions to the global problems of “Transforming Food Systems to Prevent Biodiversity Loss” and “Environmental Recovery in Areas Affected by Armed Conflict.”  

“Model U.N. was an incredible academic experience for me this year,” said Jaramillo. “It was my second year participating, but this time I was able to show how much I’ve improved. Since we didn’t have partners, I had to rely only on my own knowledge and what I had learned during the simulation. At first, that seemed intimidating, but once the conference began, it got easier.”  

Students do not need to be political science majors to participate in Model U.N.   

For more information about National Model United Nations, visit nmun.org/.