ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University’s Model United Nations program will welcome hundreds of high school students to campus March 20-22 for the program’s 48th annual conference. This year’s conference theme is “The World of Tomorrow: Ensuring Prosperity and Empowerment through Technological Development.”
Fifty Winthrop collegiate delegates will debate in a General Assembly cultural event on Wednesday night, March 20, while 350 delegates from 28 high schools from around the Carolinas representing 75 countries will debate during the day on March 21-22.
Each year, high school students write and debate resolutions written in advance for three standing committees and one special committee: Legal, Political-Security and Social-Humanitarian. This year’s special committee is the Commission on Science and Technology for Development. They also simulate the UN Security Council, where 15-member state delegates write and negotiate resolutions together during the conference.
The Model UN luncheon cultural event virtual keynote speaker is Brandi Geurkink ’15, who participated in Winthrop’s program as a college student. She was recently appointed as the inaugural executive director for the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, a coalition of more than 300 individual researchers and 50 research groups who work together to advance, defend and sustain the right to ethically study the impacts of technology on society.
Geurkink previously worked with the Mozilla Foundation, where she created YouTube Regrets, the world’s largest community-driven audit of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, which has won multiple awards. She earned her B.A. in political science from Winthrop, where she participated in Winthrop’s Model UN program as the Member State of Venezuela. She has lived and worked in Berlin, Germany, for the last seven years.
“We are thrilled to have one of our Model UN and political science alumnae serving as this year’s keynote speaker,” said Professor Jennifer Leigh Disney, chair of the Department of Political Science, Philosophy, Religion, and Legal Studies and director of the Model United Nations program. “Brandi has made a name for herself examining the role and impact of technology in and on society. Given the theme this year’s Big Three student leaders chose, she was the perfect choice to share her knowledge and expertise as our keynote speaker.”
As the Winthrop conference prepares to soon celebrate its fifth decade of existence, it stands out for its ability to teach professionalism, encourage global literacy, build student confidence and public speaking skills, and raise awareness about the cutting-edge issues of our time. The Model United Nations program consists of a suite of college classes, including preparation and training to participate in the Winthrop Model UN conference (PLSC 260), an award-winning collegiate travel team (PLSC 362), and leadership opportunities to assist with running the conference for Carolina high schools (PLSC 261).
In fall 2023, Winthrop Secretariat members continued their award-winning history, where eight out of 19 participating students won four awards at The Southern Regional Model UN Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
This year’s Secretariat is under the Big Three student leadership team of Ella Miller, secretary general; David Ibragimov, director general; and CeCe Haynes, coordinator general. The three have worked tirelessly to organize the conference, contact the high schools, and plan the logistics for the three-day event, as well as coordinate Winthrop Secretariat members’ participation in the conference as committee chairs.
The Winthrop Model UN is unique in that it was the first program of its kind to combine participation of college students with high school students. The Winthrop students, who enroll in the PLSC 260: United Nations course, are each assigned a UN Member State. Throughout the spring semester, the college students study and debate issues commonly discussed in the General Assembly of the United Nations, culminating in a public debate the opening night of the three-day conference.
Since the start of the program, more than 4,500 Winthrop students and 14,000 high school students have participated in the Model UN conferences.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or longshawj@winthrop.edu.
