Penn State Behrend hosts an annual High School Model UN Conference each April.
High school students can engage in diplomatic role-play and simulate one of the bodies on the United Nations. They discuss real-world events from the perspective of real governments, whose delegations they will represent. They also engage in negotiation and diplomacy.
Model UN has long helped build the public speaking, teamwork, negotiation, and communication skills of participants.
In 2019, high school students from five school districts participated in the second-annual Model UN Conference at Penn State Behrend.
The event was sponsored by Penn State Behrend’s award-winning Model UN Club. The college's club won the awards of Outstanding Delegation on the North Atlantic Council, Distinguished Delegation in the Partnerships and Cooperative Securities Committee, and overall Superior School Delegation at the 2019 International Model NATO Conference in Washington, D.C.
For more information, contact Lena Surzhko-Harned, an assistant teaching professor of political science and faculty adviser of the Model UN Club, at [email protected].