Instructor: Project Model UN Goals/Objectives: The Global Leadership Lab is a leadership development program that uses Model United Nations, an academic simulation of the UN, as a platform for learning. By learning how to simulate the United Nations and engage in debates about global issues, students develop critical research, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. Information: Warm-Up: The instructor started the session with a few public speaking exercises to allow students to warm up. Then, to explore public speaking more deeply, students were split into two groups: fruits and vegetables, and they participated in a debate arguing which one of the two was better. Students got to choose a particular fruit or vegetable to represent, they researched nutritional facts about their respective fruit or vegetable, and then delivered a speech to make their point. Once they had done this, the instructor shared a few public speaking frameworks to help students organize their thoughts and deliver their speeches more effectively. Presentations: Once students had practiced public speaking with a low-stakes topic, they moved to more substantive topics. The first one was the Civil War in Syria, particularly in 2013, when President Bashar Al-Assad allegedly used chemical weapons against Syrian citizens, and the United States of America announced that it would launch a limited military strike in retaliation for these actions. Students took this topic to practice their research skills. They were divided into teams of 2 or 3 students, and were tasked with making a presentation (in the format of their choice), where they would 1) […]
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