The Department of Political Science and the UCA Model United Nations (MUN) student organization hosted the Arkansas High School Model Arab League (AHSMAL) Conference in the UCA Student Center on March 10-11, 2023. The conference was sponsored by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) in Washington DC. The AHSMAL conference, originally known as the South Central States Model Arab League (SCSMAL) conference, was previously held at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville from 1996 to 2010 and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock from 2011 to 2020.
More than 150 students from ten high schools, representing the 22 member-states and several observer states of the League of Arab States, participated in the conference. UCA graduate, Sarah Fulmer, served as Secretary-General for the Conference. UCA student, Gabriel Mince, served as Assistant Secretary-General, and UCA student, Julien Mrad, served as chair of the Council on Social Affairs. Dr. Mark Mullenbach and Dr. Mark Elrod of the Department of Political Science served as faculty advisors for the UCA MUN student organization.
During the closing session, outstanding delegation awards were presented to the following delegations: Algeria (Pulaski Academy), Eritrea (Pulaski Academy), Sudan (Pulaski Academy), and the Syrian National Coalition (Conway High School). In addition, distinguished delegation awards were presented to the following delegations: Egypt (Haas Hall Academy-Bentonville), Morocco (Bryant High School), Oman (ASMSA), and Yemen (Haas Hall Academy-Fayetteville).
