International Relations majors also have the option of participating in the National Model United Nations. Each year, approximately twenty students travel to New York City to participate in the world’s largest inter-collegiate Model United Nations Simulation. In what is truly an international experience, LC students meet, network and negotiate with over 2,500 students from around the globe. Throughout the four-day conference, students develop their public speaking skills, debate issues of international importance, engage in consensus-building activities, and develop their networking skills.
Highlights of the trip include a briefing at the United Nations General Assembly, a meeting with Ambassador-rank diplomats of their assigned countries, and the chance to spend five days in New York City.
The simulation occurs late in the spring after the students have spent nearly a semester studying the foreign policy of a single nation-state in a one-hour course that prepares them for the actual National Model United Nations Conference. In recent years, Lynchburg College has represented Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and Panama.
The chance to put their knowledge to the test in the simulation format enables the students to compare their academic preparation to that of other students at other institutions; moreover, the experiential learning opportunities inherent in the simulation foster learning opportunities that are rarely achieved in the traditional classroom setting.