UCA to Host Arkansas Model United Nations Conference

The 46th annual Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) conference will be held Nov.18 -19 on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.

About 400 high school students and teachers from 25 high schools in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Florida are expected to attend this year’s conference.

The Opening Session of the 2011 AMUN Conference will take place on Friday, Nov.18 at 1:30 p.m. in Ida Waldran Auditorium in Main Hall. Dr. Clea Bunch, Chair of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at UALR, will be the keynote speaker.

The staff of the AMUN conference consists of about 40 university students from UCA, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and Harding University.

UCA junior Willis Arnold, who has participated in Model UN activities for the past five years at UCA and Conway High School, is the 2011 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 2001. As in past years, the 2011 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 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.