“I think a lot of people believe that Model UN is just for political science majors. However, I think there’s something for everyone,” said Brianna Franzino, a sophomore global studies major and has a minor in political science. “If there’s anyone that has any kind of interest in the international world and international issues, Model UN is a really great way to get more hands-on experience of how to go about addressing these issues.”
The Model United Nations club at Seton Hill gave presentations on Nov. 19-20 about women in history. Posters were displayed across from Maura Solarium, in the hallway outside of Lowe Dining hall and other locations on campus.
“When the team was trying to come up with an event that would connect with the international day for the elimination of violence against women, we thought it would be really interesting to highlight and talk about famous women in history that have had a huge impact on society, on life, both nationally and internationally, and on peoples’ lives,” said Roni Kay O’Dell, an associate professor and the political science and global studies department coordinator at SHU.
The presentations and posters about the women chosen by club members were displayed. Stickers with the sustainable development goals and chocolate were also for sale by club members.
“There are 17 sustainable development goals and these are goals that the United Nations, all 193 countries have agreed to try to achieve by 2030,” O’Dell said.
There was also a Kahoot game created by Franzino including questions about the women on the posters.
“One of the sustainable development goals is gender equality and that was what, when I kind of pitched this idea to Bri who is also an activities coordinator, I wanted to do something that goes with the goals and we all collectively came up with this idea because gender equality is something that the UN and the Model UN especially are focused on,” said Ariana Scott, a sophomore political science and sociology double major.
At the presentations there were also cards that people could use to write to their representatives and senators about a sustainable development goal or another issue they think is important.
“It’s a reminder that we as individuals have the ability to impact policy and one of the best ways is to contact our senators and representatives and ask them to make sure to be addressing whatever it is that we’re concerned about,” O’Dell said.
The members of the Model United Nations club collected the information that Franzino put on the posters displayed around campus.
“Women are oppressed in our society and if we are able to shed some more light on the cool things that they’ve done and how powerful and awesome they are, I think it’s going to help,” Scott said.
“I want people to take away that there are more components to history than they may have originally thought and a lot of those contributions came from women from all parts of the world,” said Paris Szalla, a junior political science and global studies double major.
In March, the Model United Nations Club will be taking a trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York.
“What the students do leading up is they begin meeting in August and then we meet every week throughout the year and learn about all those issues and the policies that would address those issues to make the world a better place,” said O’Dell. “They learn negotiation and diplomacy skills so that in March or April, they then as a team get assigned a particular country as they go to the UN in New York.”
“The club on Seton Hill, we’d like to not only learn about the stuff but foster communication with other people on campus about it, so even if not everyone is not able to attend meetings with us, we still want them to have the opportunity to learn with us and that is a big goal of ours to get that community outreach and make Seton Hill a more globally-minded, open minded place,” said Carrie Ellis, who is a senior political science major and has a minor in global studies. Ellis is also the president of the Model United Nations club at Seton Hill.
Published by Caitlin Srager