Diplomatic Proceedings

Newstalk hosts on every TV news outlet from CNN to Fox to MSNBC (Bill O’Reilly, Paula Zahn, Nancy Grace, Hannity and Colmes, et. al.) often present the world’s political problems in black-and-white terms. 

The Model United Nations program at Wichita State counterbalances simplistic views by introducing participating students to the complexities of our world’s political landscape.

Carolyn Shaw, associate professor and chair of WSU’s political science department, is the faculty advisor for the Model UN program. “We’re very excited this year,” she says. “We have a record number of participants — 30!”

Among the many positive results of participation, Shaw explains, are developing and sharpening research skills, writing skills, the ability to speak in public and, especially, consensus-building skills. “That,” she stresses, “is a big one. It’s not something you often get in a normal classroom setting.” The ultimate goal of the Model UN, a nationwide program that begins on an individual college level, is for students to gain a deeper understanding of the UN system, its history and structure, and the issues international communities address through the organization. Students study and analyze the point of views and positions other countries hold regarding those issues. After becoming as close to “experts” as they can, students write resolution and position papers.

“There is a whole lot of reading,” Shaw relates. “The course is very research intensive. And the position papers they write are very brief — only about two pages long. It’s not easy,” she says, and laughs. “You try and summarize your country’s position on human rights in just two pages!”

Student participation in the program requires a full-year commitment and begins as an intensive eight-week course in the fall. Students assume the role of diplomats from foreign countries and participate in mock United Nations meetings. They form committees based on interest. “We tackle current issues such as disarmament, human rights, protecting the environment and maintaining international peace,” Shaw says.

The highlight of the course is participation in two conferences, both of which are held during the spring semester. In February, students and their faculty advisor travel to St. Louis for the Midwest Model UN conference. In March, they alternate between attending the American Model UN conference in Chicago and the National Model UN conference, which is particularly exciting because it’s held in New York City, home of the real United Nations.

“We’re briefed by the public affairs officers, and sometimes we’re briefed by actual members of the UN from a particular country,” Shaw reports. She adds that national conference participation is highly selective; only students who perform well at the Midwest conference are chosen.

David Farnsworth ’53, WSU emeritus professor of political science, was the first volunteer faculty advisor. He worked with students to set up the program at Wichita State in the 1960s. Program funding was obtained, with the assistance of then-dean of students Jim Rhatigan, from university student organization start-up monies.

Farnsworth recalls the excitement of students who made it to the national conference, including those who were new to the Big Apple. “It was a great adventure for us all,” he relates. “They learned a great deal through the Model UN program. They became very innovative in their thinking and in the positions they took.”

Farnsworth oversaw WSU’s program from its inception until it was disbanded for a time in the late 1980s — with some scheduled breaks when fellow political science faculty members James McKenney and Ken Ciboski took over advising duties. The program during those years was not for credit, although this did not hamper student participation — and success. “The students won so many awards,” Farnsworth notes. “Conference officials usually give out Top 10 delegate awards, and our Wichita State students are frequently in that group.”

Mel Kahn, a noted political science professor who once accompanied WSU’s Model UN delegation to NYC as an emergency replacement for one advisor, reports, “I believe a huge factor in the WSU Model UN’s success is attributable to the very high caliber of my four colleagues who have served as faculty advisors and the excellent students they have attracted.”

Although a complete list of the academic specialties and credentials of the four Model UN faculty advisors would take pages, Kahn provides an overview of each.

Farnsworth, he reports, “has authored a number of highly praised books, including one about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was awarded a Fulbright to teach in New Zealand and selected and assigned to NATO Headquarters by the Atlantic Alliance. He has won every university teaching award available to an LAS faculty member plus the WSU Alumni Recognition Award for his distinguished career in education. Moreover, he has been a visiting professor at the universities of Southern California, Illinois and Texas as well as at the Air War College.”

Kahn notes that McKenney, who also has garnered many teaching awards, “had a Fulbright to the Arab Middle East and was selected for a special study program in Israel.

He has specialized in and traveled to Latin America, and also was a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and the Air War College. He served as the initial campaign manager and advisor to Senator Nancy Kassebaum.”

Ciboski, Kahn relates, “has expertise in the Soviet Union and several other nation-states. He reads Russian periodicals in the original Russian, as he studied the language at the University of Leningrad when he was a graduate student. He has led many student-townspeople study groups to Russia and Eastern Europe and is highly knowledgable on Western Europe and China. His comparative politics class consistently closes out.”

 And Shaw, Kahn says, “has established a national reputation in the field of simulation. She has not only published in this area, but has created her own international relations simulations, which others use in their teaching. At the 2007 American Political Science Association Conference, she conducted a special workshop on the creation and use of simulations in teaching. Obviously, her mastery of simulations is an important factor in successfully advising the Model un simulation.”

Kahn reports that the simulation of real UN activity is often what students enjoy the most. Yet it’s not pure enjoyment that is the key. He explains, “We learn better by actually doing it.”

Shaw agrees, adding that the level of excitement students experience at Model UN conferences is determined by current political realities, such as the country WSU students represent. “One year we went as Samoa,” she says. “Nothing against Samoa, but no one really wanted to talk to us about anything. However, last year we partnered with Johnson County Community College’s Model UN program, and we were assigned France. That was a great deal of fun, and a lot of people wanted to talk to us, since France is such a key player in world events.”

Participation in the Model UN at WSU is not just for political science majors. “Anyone who is a student can participate,” says Shaw. “We have many political science majors, but we also have students majoring in international business — it’s nice to draw students from the college of business — and communication majors, since they need to stay up on current events.”

Andrew Punch ’02, a business management information systems graduate who works in Minneapolis, is only one of dozens of successful former Model UN paricipants. Punch recalls that the highlight of his participation was speaking at the United Nation’s General Assembly Hall. “We were assigned China, India and Andorra in my time with the program,” he says. “The Model UN program was a great way to merge several parts of my college education into a great networking activity.”