Running a Model UN Crisis Committee on the Spanish Civil War 

For my senior project, I ran a Model UN crisis committee on the Spanish Civil War. It was open to all Academy students, regardless of age and prior experience.

Model UN, which stands for “Model United Nations,” is an activity where we simulate a UN conference. People represent a country and, through structured debate, build consensus and diplomacy on global issues. However, crisis conferences are a bit different. Instead of representing a country, you represent a person. You will have all the powers, abilities, and resources of that person, and can use them to make decisions and execute actions in real time. The committee itself will rapidly adapt to an ever-evolving series of events that you control. In the case of this, the scenario / crisis is the Spanish Civil War. Crisis committees are a very fun and engaging way to really learn about a historical time period. You (as your character) collaborate and conspire with your peers and have to adapt both public and secret plans to the tenuous situation swiftly unfolding.

For a background on the Spanish Civil War, you can visit the background guide, which was provided to all students to help them prepare for the committee.