<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I’ll be doing Model UN and I’d like to know any tips you guys might have. Also, any websites that you find are useful please list them! </p>
<p>Some questions to consider: Do you do any reading of books (you specifically, not necessarily because of teacher’s orders)? Do you think studying rules of argument, and rhetoric might be useful? </p>
<p>I’ll think up some more questions along the way. All contributions would be very much appreciated. :)</p>
<p>Studying rules of argument as well as speeches of great orators (Cicero, Hitler, FDR, Churchill) helps with your debate skills. </p>
<p>CIA World Factbook == god.</p>
<p>Only time I read a book on a topic was for an incredibly intense re-enactment of the Dayton Accords.</p>
<p>great tip about debate skills arbiter. How else would you recommend to improve your debate skills?</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacies[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacies</a></p>
<p>Know them. Love them. Live them.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.un.int/usa/model-un.htm[/url]”>http://www.un.int/usa/model-un.htm</a></p>
<p>Those are all good too.</p>
<p>umm there’s a cyberschool bus site i can’t remember but im sure if you google that it’ll show up</p>
<p><a href=“http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation3/menu/advanced.asp[/url]”>http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation3/menu/advanced.asp</a></p>
<p>That’s the cyberschoolbus site. I generally wikipedia it up and keep the car radio tuned to NPR. It helps to have a topic or country that you’re interested in, but that’s not always possible so learn to love what you have. Also: be SURE to jump right in the debate! If you don’t speak early on, you likely won’t have a chance for the rest of the session…</p>
<p>Yah, and buddy up before the debate starts. Coalition forming is incredibly important. And don’t be afraid to think outside the box, and in some cases, stab people in the back/ be devious.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s right! Moreover, the chair(s) tend to recognize people who speak up earlier, so the chances of you being called by the chair later is much higher if you speak up early on.</p>
<p>Don’t worry as much about researching your COUNTRY as researching the TOPICS: their history, possible solutions, opposing viewpoints–when it comes down to it, knowing the air quality of Canada will not be as helpful as memorizing the proposed resolutions for air quality introduced to GA-3 in 1994, 1996, and 1998. Plus, you’ll seem way smart if you can spout off info about previous proposals that failed in order to contradict someone else’s working paper.</p>
<p>Duke MUN conference is coming sooo soon…November 9 
Hello, shirking responsibility in order to take 40-minute “recesses” to go to Starbucks with super-hot Afghanistan delegates and abuse the page system…</p>
<p>Be assertive but diplomatic (when it is in role, though). Of course, it should be a given already, but then again, from my experiences with MUN, it’s a fact that can’t be expressed enough. Non-assertive people at the conferences I’ve been to get ignored unless somebody wants them to sign something. T__T</p>
<p>Thanks guys, keep up the great tips.</p>
<p>Also, how should you go about the conference if your country is relatively un-influencial… as in a very small state, or even just an observer country? Not to mention its going to be a big conference I assume (Harvard, Yale conferences). So how should you go about yourself then? Are you just mute?</p>
<p>no do whatever…it doesn’t truly matter what country you are…it’s what you say dude</p>
<p>haha we don’t have any hot dudes at our mun conferences…what is up with that…i need to go to the duke one :P</p>
<p>Ohh, you’re missing out if you don’t go to MUN to meet boys in Western business attire. ;)</p>
<p>Although, I met a stalker there last year. He still IMs me constantly.</p>
<p>…I also met my soul mate. Too bad I only knew him as “Norway.” 
Maybe I’ll see him again this year lol</p>
<p>LOL. There are a lot of stalkers in MUN. It’s kind of amusing.</p>
<p>Haha Dang it–we have such weirdoes…I need to find an out-of-state conf or something.</p>
<p>A good role for small, non-influential nations to take at conferences is the compromiser, since you don’t have the resources to back assertive claims (or your nation doesn’t even have a stance on a particular issue).
Be sure you know exactly what your nation’s stance is though. I absolutely hate it when Iran or the DPRK turns out in support of disarmament resolutions from the beginning. Don’t do it - it will make you look like a fool.
Do extensive research. It’s customary around here to have up to 50 good sources in a 5 page research paper for each topic. A good format for a paper is an effective intro, background on the issue and why it is a problem, followed by your country’s position and finally possible solutions (which should be the bulk of the paper).</p>
<p>Interesting advice gzhang. Can you ellabourate a little more on being the “comprimiser”? Lets say for example, you are the Palestinians, or some other small nation or another observer entity, how would you play that role as a “comprimiser”?</p>
<p>Palestine is a lot trickier. When I talked about the “compromiser” I was referring to nations that are not only small geographically and population-wise but also in the political eye. Palestine, for example, is a relatively small nation but it’s the center of a global issue right now. I represented Costa Rica once in DISEC, which was the perfect nation for such a role (it’s small, developed, relatively neutral, unthreatening, and plays a disproportionately large role in international politics). However, if you are representing a nation like Palestine you’d better have a strong opinion and lead your own bloc.</p>
<p>5 pages? 50 sources? Most papers don’t require citation and are kept to an aboslute maximum of 1 page per topic. If you’re writing any more you’re not doing it right (though that is the correct amount of research to do gzhang).</p>
<p>^^Oh, hardcore MUN people.</p>
<p>Y’all make me laugh. I bet you’ve said the word “parli-pro” when you weren’t even mocking someone else. ;)</p>