PoliSci Simulations

Hey, all!

I’m super excited right now because I’m part of McDaniel’s Model United Nations (MUN) team, and tomorrow we’re going to Boston, MA for the Harvard National MUN. The only time I’ve been further north on the East Coast than Pennsylvania was when I was 8, and I really can’t even remember where we went then, so I’m really excited to see another area of the US.

The PoliSci department participates in four simulations each year–Model Arab League, Model European Union, Model United Nations, and Maryland Student Legislature (MSL). I didn’t do Model Arab League this year as I know very little about the Arab League nations, but I’m doing the other three. All except for MUN are open to anyone at the school, but as the PoliSci department subsidizes the trip greatly, MUN is only open to people majoring or minoring in political science. All of them can count as internship credit (though I’m not able to count MUN and MSL this year since I’m already taking the max number of credits!)

The simulations are great because in each, we take what we’ve learned about the bodies we’re simulating and really apply it by pretending we’re members of that organization. In Model European Union, I got to take the information I’d learned in my Politics of Europe class and apply it directly by arguing in Parliament. I really saw how the politics of it all worked, and how reliant on parties the system was. And in MSL, I get to write my own bills. If I argue them well and they’re passed, then the bill will go to the real Maryland Legislature for consideration. As students, we’re a little more liberal than the real Legislature so it’s not guaranteed that they, too, will pass it, but it’s cool to think that something I wrote can go under serious consideration by elected officials.

MUN is the biggest simulation. Over 3,500 students from places all over the world will be in the one hotel we stay in. We have some time set aside for exploring Boston, too, and I’m really excited to be in a city again. Only two freshman were lucky enough to be on the team, so I’m also excited to spend time with the upperclassmen I don’t know as well.

Ema