League of Our Own: Creating a Model United Nations Scrimmage Conference

Model United Nations (MUN) provides a great forum for students to learn about global issues and political processes, while also practicing communication and negotiation skills that will serve them well for a lifetime. Intercollegiate MUN conferences can be problematic, however, in terms of logistics, budgets, and student participation. In order to improve the educational utility of the MUN experience while minimizing some of the drawbacks that accompany lengthy travel, the authors created an intercollegiate scrimmage league. This paper details our experience with MUN, examining the strengths and weaknesses of traditional competitions, our reasons for starting a scrimmage league, and the particulars of putting together such a league. We then evaluate both the challenges and successes of this approach and discuss our future plans. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate more discussion of useful techniques for improving the MUN experience.