{"id":6104,"date":"2017-05-04T10:23:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T14:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/news\/?p=6104"},"modified":"2018-02-20T15:25:07","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T20:25:07","slug":"e-town-political-science-class-recognized-for-outstanding-participation-at-model-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2017\/05\/04\/e-town-political-science-class-recognized-for-outstanding-participation-at-model-un\/","title":{"rendered":"E-town political science class recognized for outstanding participation at Model UN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For five days in March, college students get a taste of what it takes to run the world<\/p>\n

As part of the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Conference in New York City, students engage in role-play exercises as delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN committees as a means of honing their skills at research, public speaking, debating and writing, as well as critical thinking, teamwork and leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all applicable skills to life after graduation,\u201d said Oya Dursun-Ozkanca, an associate professor of political science and director of the international studies minor at Elizabethtown College. Dursun-Ozkanca has taught a Model UN class for the past eight years. Offered alternating spring semesters, the course takes students to the NMUN Conference in New York.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s conference was held March 19 to 23. Thirteen E-town students spent almost a week in New York City, joining 5,000 students from 144 counties. The class represented the African country of Lesotho, each serving as a delegate for different UN bodies and committees.<\/p>\n

\n

Every major has a place in international relations.\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Senior political science major Emily West, who had previously taken the course in 2015, served as the Head Delegate of Lesotho Delegation at this year\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really learn how challenging it is to be a smaller country,\u201d West said. \u201cIt gives you [a different] perspective on how the world works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sobering,\u201d added junior political science major Kayla Gruber.<\/p>\n

Though the course has a heavy focus on international relations, it is open to students of various majors. Dursun-Ozkanca said this year\u2019s class included psychology, English and education majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery major has a place in international relations,\u201d Gruber said.<\/p>\n

In addition to helping students build diplomatic, public speaking, interpersonal and multicultural communication skills, Dursun-Ozkanca added that attending the Model UN strengthens problem-solving skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times you don\u2019t get to see how much complexity is involved in decision making,\u201d Dursun-Ozkanca said. \u201cAt Model UN, you see hands-on implementation of diplomacy and bargaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students Gruber and West found value in applying their international relations knowledge to a real-world situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttending the conference gives you a better perspective of what actual delegates do,\u201d West said. \u201cIt really gives you that real-world experience of what happens in the UN that you wouldn\u2019t learn in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gruber agreed: \u201cIt broadens your perceptions of issues, and it gives you a lot of outside information that comes from places around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

E-town was recognized at the closing ceremony of the NMUN New York conference held at the General Assembly Hall of the UN for outstanding participation. The E-town Delegation received a certificate of honorable mention. E-town\u2019s Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking provided financial support for the class to attend the conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For five days in March, college students get a taste of what it takes to run the world As part of the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Conference in New York City, students engage in role-play exercises as delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN committees as a means of honing their skills at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":6105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[178,3],"tags":[490,1141,1128,436],"class_list":["post-6104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-achievements","category-real-world-learning","tag-achievements-2","tag-cgup","tag-feature","tag-politics","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6109,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104\/revisions\/6109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}