• The classes given every Friday by IDEA to students who wish to participate in the Model United Nations Conference next year, in New York, will continue until January. The training workshop is addressed to future professionals of the programs of the Faculty of Administration and Economics and the Faculty of Humanities and its purpose is to equal or exceed the performance level reached in the 2015 conference, in which our university’s delegation had an outstanding performance.

Students who will participate in the Model United Nations Conference debates at the UN headquarters (New York), in 2016, are being trained in different workshops held at the facilities of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The cost-free workshop that is being held every Friday at the IDEA facilities will continue until January 2016, and they train the students in different topics, like international policy, leadership skills, negotiating, and English language. All this has the purpose of maintaining the outstanding performance that our university’s delegations have had in this international activity in which the operating model of different UN bodies, like the Security Council or Unicef, is simulated. Every year, this conference gathers more than 5,000 students from all over the world. 

During the third session of the workshop, students were visited by the Director of the Department of History, Dr Igor Goicovic; the Deputy Director of the Department of Administration, Héctor Toledo, and the Head of the International Studies program, Dr Nelson Paulus. They committed themselves to back the efforts to institutionalize the support to this activity in which our university has had an outstanding performance for three consecutive years.

In this regard, Dr Goicovic said that, in the meetings with future and former participants and with the professors in charge of the activity, he has been able to appreciate “The willingness, motivation and academic level to continue participating in this international conference.”

“The students who have already participated in this Model UN debates have gained considerable experience, which was reflected in their achievements during the conference. When they came back to Chile, they officially reported the very positive results of their participation. What they learned, in turn, has had a deep impact on their professional training, and this impact has clearly replicated as experience in their programs,” professor Goicovic said.

“It is essential that the University gradually but systematically takes responsibility for the funding process of this activity, so this Department commits to help in creating these conditions,” he added.

Total commitment

Sofía Schuster, professor at the Bachelor’s Program in International Studies and coordinator of the Model UN workshop, highlighted the high commitment shown by the students of the Public Administration, Translation and International Studies programs who are interested in participating in this activity in 2016.

“During the first session, we asked the students to write a commitment letter. There, we were able to see their willingness to participate in this activity and we learned about their interests and motivation,” she explained.

Professor Schuster also said that they have already submitted a Teaching Innovation Project proposal for 2016 that seeks to have more students of Universidad de Santiago participating in other models’ debates, similar to de Model UN, for example, in the Organization of American States (OAS).

Interested students

Johann Golsworthy, a fourth-year student of the Public Administration program, showed himself very interested in completing his preparation and then participating in the Model UN Conference.

“I read the invitation on the Internet and I got immediately interested in attending the workshops to improve my knowledge on how international policy works in the UN and how international conflicts develop. Now I have to complete my program, but I am really willing to go (to New York),” the student said.

Likewise, Javiera Díaz, a fifth-year student of the English-Portuguese Translation program, said that she has been interested in participating in such an activity for a long time.

“I have always wanted to know more about the international relations field and, in the future, I would like to pursue a Master’s degree related to it. For this reason, I believe this is a great opportunity that should have all the possible support,” she finally said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras