Last week, junior Summer Starkie traveled to Dubai with the International Model United Nations Association, an educational non-profit that promotes Model United Nations (MUN) conferences across the world.
MUN is a style of debate that allows students to simulate the work of the United Nations.
Starkie arrived in Dubai on Jan. 31 and returned to Nashville on Feb. 5. In Dubai, she worked eight-hour days with a middle school MUN conference, directing a committee of delegates ranging in age from 11-13 and teaching them what MUN is all about, how to write resolutions and how to debate.
After her sessions ended, Starkie and her co-workers spent the afternoon exploring Dubai.
“We went to the Mall of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, the Arabian Desert, the Gold Souk, Palm Island, and all of the crazy extravagant things you see on the Internet when you look into visiting Dubai,” she said.
Starkie explained that the importance of MUN is to step outside of one’s own opinions to learn how the world works in different cultures.
“As an American who was born here and raised here and might live here for my entire life, I have had to step outside of an American mindset and learn about how the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe consider different policies and issues,” Starkie said.
MUN teaches both the leaders and students a great deal about different cultures and why they tend to disagree. This, in turn, helps emphasize how to handle conflict in order to understand another’s opinions.
Starkie said she loves her job because working with the kids brings her joy; she said she values the opportunity she is given to travel to many different cities and teach students about all of the other cultures that exist outside of their own.
“Being able to teach students about the importance of international relations is really special to me because I think it relates back to understanding compassion and empathy,” Starkie said.
To learn more about the International Model United Nations Association, visit their website.