What Is Model United Nations (MUN)?

A Model United Nations is a simulation of one or more of the bodies of the United Nations. Typically, such a simulation focuses on a specific issue or set of issues, as a full scale simulation of the United Nations would simply be too vast in scope.

There are hundreds of Model United Nations programs around the world, involving thousands of high schools, colleges, and universities and countless participating students.

Participation in a Model United Nations offers a great deal to students. First, it allows them to become intimately familiar with both a particular issue and a particular nation-state.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, participation allows the student to gain a greater appreciation of the dynamics of the relations among states and the United Nations' role in the international system.

What Is Model United Nations of Alaska?

The Model UN of Alaska is an important international educational experience, which has been organized and offered through voluntary cooperative efforts.

Ever since 1982, Alaska high school and university students have had the opportunity to participate in a simulation of the United Nations here in Alaska. Originally offered by Alaska Pacific University, the University of Alaska Anchorage has hosted the Model UN of Alaska since 1993.

The Department of Political Science, within the UAA College of Arts and Sciences, is the university body responsible for coordinating all aspects of the MUN. In fact, UAA students (The Secretariat) both organize and participate in the simulation.