UCA to Host 47th Annual AMUN Conference

The 47th Annual Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) conference will be held on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas on Friday, November 16, 2012 and Saturday, November 17, 2012. The AMUN conference, created by the late Professor Sims McClintock as an educational simulation of the UN General Assembly and other UN bodies, was first held at the then Arkansas State Teachers College (ASTC) in Conway in 1966. Since 1966, the AMUN conference has involved the participation of thousands of high school and college/university students from throughout the state of Arkansas and neighboring states.

The 2012 AMUN conference is expecting some 450 high school students and teachers from 27 high schools in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Florida. The staff of the AMUN conference consists of some 40 university students from UCA, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Harding University. UCA senior Jake Logan, who has participated in Model UN activities for the past several years at UCA and Sheridan High School, is the 2012 AMUN Secretary-General. Dr. Mark Mullenbach, an Associate Professor and Director of the International Studies Program in the UCA Department of Political Science, has coordinated the AMUN program since Fall 2001. As in past years, the 2012 AMUN conference will include simulations of several UN bodies, including the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, Human Rights Council, and International Court of Justice.

The Opening Session of the 2012 AMUN Conference will take place on Friday, November 16th in Ida Waldran Auditorium in Main Hall. The keynote speaker during the opening session will be Mr. Hristijan Gjorgievski, Program Manager in Macedonia for the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Mr. Gjorgievski, a graduate of UCA and Johns Hopkins University, served as Secretary-General of the AMUN in 2005. The opening session starts at 1:00pm, after which the participating delegates will convene in their respective committees and councils.