Politically-minded students at the University of Saskatchewan will have the chance to travel and debate across the continent as the Usask Model UN Club returns for another year.

The club, founded just one year ago, plans to maintain its momentum from an exciting season in 2013–14. The organization was created as a means to send U of S students to the North American Model UN in Toronto, which took place in February.

The U of S delegation to NAMUN was a huge success, and one that the club hopes to recreate this year on a much larger scale.

Momina Mateen, the club’s president and a second-year microbiology student, says that the club would like to attend three major conferences this year: the NAMUN conference in Toronto, the McGill MUN conference in Montreal and even the Harvard MUN conference in Boston. The conferences are all scheduled to take place in January and February 2015.

“The opportunity to go to Harvard is really exciting for us because we actually received an invitation from them,” Mateen said.

The club also plans to host its own conference at the U of S.

A delegation consists of four to six students, so deciding who gets to attend conferences can be a challenge, said Mateen. The club has around 25 members currently.

Vice-president Thanasi Kipourous said that he enjoys model UN because it forces him to think outside the box and look at issues with a different perspective.

“When I go to conferences I prefer not to represent Canada… I prefer to represent countries like Peru, Chile and North Korea,” Kipourous said. “It’s very interesting.”

Kipourous is a second-year political studies major with two years of model UN experience from high school. Mateen has an impressive four years’ experience and has attended over 20 conferences.

The opportunities to think about current events in new ways is Mateen’s favourite part of model UN.

“Model UN encourages you to research different topics and puts you in a difficult position, because you may have to represent views that don’t necessarily correspond to what you personally believe,” Mateen said.

“If you’re representing Cuba, you can’t ally with America,” Kipourous said.

Participants in model UN conferences, referred to as delegates, are placed in committees and assigned countries, or occasionally other organizations or political figures, to represent. They are presented with their assignments in advance, along with a topic or topics that their committee will discuss. Most conferences tend to focus on current affairs issues that are being discussed in the United Nations. These issues can highlight political, financial and/or social concerns.

Delegates conduct research before conferences and formulate positions that they will then debate with their fellow delegates in committee. At the end of a conference, the best-performing delegates in each committee are sometimes recognized with awards.

Mateen said that learning the style of debate used at conferences is key to a successful model UN experience.

“You need to be very diplomatic, which takes a little bit of practice,” Mateen said.

The club plans to hold weekly meetings on Wednesday afternoons, which will consist of a training session followed by a few rounds of debate. The group is open to students of all majors and colleges.

Students wanting more information on the Usask Model UN club can email the group’s organizers at usask.mun@usask.ca.

If you’re a part of a campus club and would like your group featured in the Sheaf, contact Rainer Kocsis at associatenews@thesheaf.com