Southwest Florida Model United Nations

 

Issues Workshop, Saturday January 20th, 2001

 

Agenda for Issues Workshop:

 

            This workshop is an effort to explore the agenda issues to be covered at this year’s model United Nations.  Our sessions are based on background papers that FGCU students, working under the direction of Dr. Richard W. Coughlin, have prepared on this year’s agenda topics.  At the heart of this workshop are presentations of these background papers by student authors followed by working group sessions.  The working groups will consist of delegates wishing to focus on a particular topic.  Each working group will be assigned two tasks.  The first will be to gather basic information on the topic, including key concepts associated with the topic and information about one’s country in relationship to the topic.  We refer to this as information quest assignments.  Students will have access to the internet and other research materials during this phase of the workshop.  After using the time allotted for information gathering, the working groups will re-convene in order to formulate communiqués on their topics.  These documents will evolve from delegate deliberations on the topic.  Delegates need not come to a consensus.  Indeed, it is desirable that the communiqués capture points of disagreement as well as agreement.  We hope to have these communiqués serve as a basis for further deliberation between delegates as the conference approaches.  To this end, copies of the communiqués will be posted on the Model UN Website following the workshop.   The MUN web board might then provide a forum in which these issues can be further discussed.

 

Here is the schedule for our workshop:

 

  1. 9:00 – 9:30:  At 9:00 students and faculty participants convene in room 111 Howard Hall.  The goals of the workshop will be explained at that point. 
  2. 9:45 – 10:30:  High school delegates will meet in committee rooms.  FGCU students do some icebreaker exercised with the students.  They present overviews of the topics they wrote on.  After the presentations, the working groups convene.  Students are given information quest assignments on their topics.   
  3. 10.30-11:15:  Students are given one hour to find relevant information.  During this time, they may access the internet or use bibliographic materials provided by workshop organizers.
  4. 11:15 –12:30:  Working groups convene to develop communiqués.  These documents should be drafted on a computer before breaking for lunch.  Student may break for lunch once their document as been prepared to the satisfaction of the FGCU student leader. 
  5. 12:30-1:15:  Lunch in the EAGLE café.
  6. 1:30 – 2:00:  Working groups provide brief presentations (2-3 minutes each) of their conclusions to the assembled group.

 

For more information, please contact, Richard W. Coughlin  590-7177; rcoughli@fgcu.edu