EMPOWERED by IDIA
January 2011
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Dear Readers, Welcome to the new EMPOWERED by IDIA! This monthly magazine will keep you up to date with what is happening at IDIA, while also offering unique insight into the fields of civics education and engagement. As this is the first issue for 2011, I’d like to offer a review of 2010, along with an outline for what is to happen in the new year.
2010 marked another successful year in terms of IDIA’s primary conferences. RUMUN, PhilMUN, and RMC brought together more than 1,750 students from across the country to talk about some of today’s most compelling issues. IDIA worked with MSGVarsity to bring PhilMUN and RMC to the TV screen, making the Model Congress and Model United Nations experience available to an even broader population. IDIA launched a partnership program with local schools to develop one-day conference, ensuring that the Model UN experience is available to an even broader population.
2011 is picking up right where 2010 left off – PhilMUN and RMC are approaching, and our conference staff is working tirelessly to put together the best educational experience possible. We’re in the process of developing a Hub City Leadership Conference, offering New Brunswick a program to educate and engage high school students in their own communities. Following the tremendous success of the 2010 Model ECOWAS conference in The Gambia, IDIA will head to Nigeria in July to learn about education in this West African country and to run a Model ECOWAS conference outside of Lagos. The best part about this trip is that it is open to both current IDIA staff and IDIA alumni. Later that same month, we will be off to Croatia to run the Vukovar International Model United Nations (VukiMUN) conference, one of the first Model UN conference ever to take place in a former UN Peacekeeping operations zone. Over the past year, many people have asked how they can get involved in IDIA and how to support our innovative programming. Our new membership program will allow us to have a more vibrant, more engaged network of professionals and we are developing new programs that will rely upon our members for success. As we progress through 2011, I encourage you to share your ideas with us so that we can continue to build IDIA into the innovative, engaging, and valuable organization that you helped it become, for without your support we simply cannot succeed in fulfilling our mission. Thank you for your ongoing support, and your continued commitment,
Michael Hinchliffe Executive Director
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Civics in the City Classroom By Ruchi Gupta
WHAT’S INSIDE? As a second-year teacher in an inner-city Philadelphia high Civics in the City Classroom Page 1 school, it is daunting enough to Think Globally, Act Selfishly Page 2 try and manage my classroom Where is Southeast Asia? Page 4 every day, let alone actually teach Crisis Culture Page 5 my objectives in a meaningful and transformative manner. More Bringing Model UN Online Page 6 often than not, Philadelphia’s high truancy rates Calendar/Joining IDIA Page 7 mean that half my class is missing at any given period; for the students who do show up, the skills, and critical thinking skills would all be a part material is solidly on grade level or even more of the abilities with which my students would leave rigorous, which means that it is at least four or five my class. grade levels too advanced for the collective literacy And as a recent project has shown, this abilities of my class. It is daunting to face the low approach is working. Whereas my first assignment reading skills of my students and confront the of the year (a collection of short stories revolving myriad of factors that keep them from coming to around pivotal moments in a person’s life) school each day, but it is even worse when it comes averaged less than 60 percent per class, my second to investment. That is why I have assignment (a public service Those who can write do write, but decided to use simulation-based project where students lobbied those who lack the fundamental learning in my classroom as for change around an issue for skills produce material in a much often as possible. So far, the which they were passionate) different way: role-play and public increase of experiential learning, averaged more than 80 percent. speaking. as well as the focus on civics Students would light up when education, has served as a true they entered the classroom, turning point for my students. I’d like to share with engaging in conversations with each other where you my story. they were challenged to advocate for causes like I teach Creative Writing, which is an elective urban education reform and eradication of street into which students are randomly rostered. Little gangs. They researched primary and secondary attention is paid to reading levels (I have an array sources, asked great questions, doggedly pursued of college level readers in the same class period as answers, and crafted heartfelt, eloquent public my pre-primer readers who can barely recognize service announcements that called for action. A the written version of their name) and so my component of the project called for 100 signatures curriculum focuses highly on the skill of expressing on a petition describing their issue; out of all 80 oneself. Contrary to its name, the class does not put projects turned in, only 10 did not have the full an emphasis on writing. Those who can write do amount of signatures. write, but those who lack the fundamental skills To me, the benefit of bringing civics into the produce material in a much different way: roleclassroom is manifold. Yes, my projects may play and public speaking. Since I teach seniors, a deviate from a strict Creative Writing focus. But it large part of getting buy-in for this plan, which is is more important to me to reach students who feel utterly foreign to kids who were raised to be taught voiceless, who wonder whether their hands are to the test, rests on selling the abilities they can part of the collective grasp that will steer their learn. I used my experience with IDIA to market world in the right direction. Perhaps it is naïve, but simulation: communicative skills, interpersonal I think true learning comes from anything I can do Presented by the Institute for Domestic and International Affairs
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to make Philadelphia’s youth more aware of the power they have over their environment, whether that means using a current event as a Do-Now or teaching grammar skills through an article about teen pregnancy statistics in the city. Stay tuned to find out whether this approach flops or soars as the year goes on. Ruchi Gupta is a public school teacher at Ben Franklin High School in Philadelphia, PA.
Think Globally, Act Selfishly By David Bell Mislan
Last November, the Pew Research Center released its periodic report on how much Americans know about global issues. At the time, I scanned it for something truly shocking—the one statistic I could use when discussing today’s lack of global awareness to family and friends—but I found nothing of the sort. Yet, I found many indicators of a lack of global awareness that weren’t too surprising concerning America’s youth. According to the Nov. 11-14 poll, 10% of Americans aged 18-29 can correctly name the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from a list of choices. For comparison’s sake, 46% of young Americans can name Google’s phone software. The global ignorance phenomenon is something that is not new to most of us in tertiary education. Many of my students are woefully unaware of even the most prevalent issues facing global society, and it is my duty to inspire my
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students to become more globally aware. After all, I’m a professor of international relations. Maybe, however, the problem is precisely that it is the task of the international relations professor, the African history professor, or the world cultures teacher to globalize the minds of students. The practice of letting the global scholars and teachers handle global awareness is akin to placing global awareness into an intellectual ghetto, thus reinforcing the predisposition held by students that thinking globally is a luxury, a niche, or a vocational calling unto itself. The inability of other disciplines and high school subjects to integrate global awareness into their curricula might be one of the latent causes of the endemic global ignorance that no longer shocks people like me. Why is thinking globally important for my students? Quite simply, the most innovative and successful people I have met all know that global awareness is more than a niche. A globally aware thinker can innovate better than a globally sheltered mind, whether that knowledge is used for building wealth or for solving US-specific problems. For example, take one of our most pressing issues today: America’s child obesity epidemic. The 2007-2008 NHANES Survey estimates that 17% of today’s American children are obese. Childhood obesity is an urgent matter in our society, since it is a highly reliable predictor of type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, among other adult ailments that lead to a shorter life. Also, childhood obesity is not just an individual’s issue, since higher incidences of obesity-related illnesses have the potential to drive up the costs of health care for all of us and places an emotional and financial burden on family and friends. There are many other secondary liabilities
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associated with childhood obesity, such as the fact look at how they are taught to think about food in that today’s obese children will incapable of both cultures. How do parents feed their children serving in a armed forces in case of a future war, in both cultures? Differences there, or in other thus obesity has the potential to jeopardize national cultural and sociological aspects, have the potential security. to yield clues to understanding America’s dire Needless to say, government agencies such as predicament. In short, we cannot begin to the CDC and major centers of public health understand American-specific problems without research are pouring resources into finding the understanding how Americans compare to the rest causes and potential solutions to the childhood of the world, which requires global understanding. obesity crisis. They study environments, do case So, how do we create more globally aware work, conduct nutritional analyses, develop problem-solvers? We must start with education. analytical models, and run experiments. All of Drawing from the obesity example, we should start these tools are methodologically sophisticated and by integrating global awareness into all of the presumably reliable, but have yet to uncover the subjects of primary, secondary, and tertiary causes of, and solutions to, this crisis. I believe that curricula. This is no easy task, but it must be done. a researcher with a global perspective can come to As long as high schools cram world cultures into a the rescue. few social studies courses and as long as Childhood obesity in the universities ask their students to United States is not unique in the take one non-Western course as a As educators, we need to do a industrialized world, yet it is graduation requirement, we are better job convincing our students unprecedented. According to a both failing in truly globalizing (and ourselves) that global September 2010 OECD report, our students as well as awareness will make you more American children are twice as reinforcing the notion that global money if you are in business, it will likely to be overweight than a awareness is an appendage in the yield more data if you are in Japanese child. Other advanced intellectual corpus instead of the research, it will give you more countries, such as Denmark, are heart of it. inspiration if you are in the arts, and it will help you communicate even less affected by the There is one final point to better if you are in public relations. epidemic. Why? A quick and consider regarding global shallow comparison of these awareness: it can be highly selfcountries yields no answer, since they all share a serving. As one of the professors currently living comparable quality of life. in the “global awareness ghetto,” I constantly make A public health researcher with a global the mistake of framing my craft in idealistic terms. perspective would look at the meaningful cultural I usually argue that understanding international differences between American and Japanese eating relations is good for world peace, for mutual habits. Going beyond just what each culture eats, respect, and for improving the lives of others. We this person might ask more complex questions that need to admit that such lofty notions will not reach could only be developed by a globally aware mind. all of our students; idealism is not lingua franca. How does each culture approach eating? What are Thus, as we move to make global awareness an its social aspects? When do the Japanese eat aspect of teaching all subjects, educators and compared to Americans? After all, some slight parents should think about global awareness in cultural differences might have a large impact on pragmatic terms. While world peace is nice, global differences in obesity rates. For example, do the awareness might be more appealing and more Japanese work while eating as much as Americans accessible if it is couched in egocentric language. do? If not, how might that impact what each As educators, we need to do a better job convincing culture eats, and thus, differences in obesity? our students (and ourselves) that global awareness When thinking specifically about children, one can will make you more money if you are in business, it Presented by the Institute for Domestic and International Affairs
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will yield more data if you are in research, it will give you more inspiration if you are in the arts, and it will help you communicate better if you are in public relations. Most importantly, we cannot connect global awareness to individual benefits if we do not integrate global learning into all of the academic pursuits. By relating global awareness to all disciplines and to the needs and desires of all students, we can help shape a new generation of globally aware Americans. The idealist in me sees this as good for the world and the egotist in me thinks that I’ll have better enrollments in my courses. Either way, we all win. David Bell Mislan is an assistant professor of political science at Rosemont College in suburban Philadelphia and is a member of IDIA’s Board of Directors.
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great civilizations of Asia, a population that exceeds that of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa combined, and a society that is composed of hundreds of languages, ethnicities, and cultures. So how can such a rich and diverse region be so overlooked in today’s political climate? The size of the countries and the remoteness of the area make it seem unimportant and removed. The Vietnam War severed diplomatic ties between the United States and Vietnam, and because the US has grown to be today’s world power, it has stifled any presence that Southeast Asia has had. Finally, the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997 makes international interests in the region uneasy. All of these factors, however, have been resolved and have changed, putting Southeast Asia back on the international stage. Southeast Asia has come a long way from its history of colonialism. Ten of the eleven Southeast
Where is Southeast Asia? By Trisha Jhunjhnuwala Not many people know which countries make up Southeast Asia, or even where it is. When talking about the region, I’ve gotten questions on Korea, India, Bangladesh, and China— all of which are not in the Southeast Asian region. This region is made up of those eleven countries east of India, south of China, and north of Australia, and it is sometimes referred to as the Asia Pacific. This region is often overlooked by the Western world. Do you remember learning about Southeast Asia in high school? I think I only learned where Vietnam was because of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War…but that’s all. Even at Rutgers, not one of our professors specializes in Southeast Asia, while we have entire departments dedicated to China, Africa, Europe, and East Asia. Few universities around the country have programs that are dedicated solely to studying this region. But in this region exists the cross-roads for every major world religion and
Asian States have been colonized at one point, and Thailand, the one country that hasn’t been colonized, retained much influence from its neighbor’s colonizers. It was because of this history that trade, for a long time, was limited to cash crops such as rubber, coffee, and spices. Governments within these countries took years to find a firm foundation, and this was only after countless authoritarian regimes such as Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge and Myanmar’s military dictatorship. Now, however, each country is
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committed to creating a functional democracy, as outlined in the charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The region has established significant trading ties with China, Japan, and South Korea. The United States has recognized the importance of staying active within the economies of the region, as many believe that the center of economic growth is gradually shifting toward Asia. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that if the US is to keep up with the rapidly changing economy, it must become more invested in Southeast Asia. In addition to the economic interests in the region, we must also consider the political and social structures in each nation. This region has become one of the volatile areas in the world. In several nations, the aftershocks of the economic crisis and rising political turmoil contribute to poverty, disease, and human rights abuses. In recent years, Southeast Asia has grown politically, economically, and socially. Despite its progress, the region is still building its identity on the international skyline. It is time for the world to not only pay attention to this emerging region, but to have an integral role in its growth and stability. Trisha Jhunjhnuwala is a Rutgers University junior and the Secretary-General of PhilMUN 2011. Last November, IDIA announced the RUMUN 2010 Writing Contest, where students had the chance to write an article answering the question: "How has the global economic crisis impacted the world's capacity to address social, humanitarian, and cultural problems plaguing the international community?" The winning writer would receive a scholarship to any future IDIA conference. We are proud to announce that Victoria Yong, a sophomore at Franklin High School, took home the prize! Here is her article:
Crisis Culture by Victoria Yong “How will you fund this plan?” is a popular question in Model U.N. Overused as it may sound in simulated debate, it’s significant to the real
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circumstances which the international community presently faces. Today, it’s becoming increasingly hard to come up with a legitimate response to that inquiry because of one massive blockade: the global economic crisis. The recession shifts the world’s focus away from social, cultural, and humanitarian issues and can even cause them. Since money is scarcer, aid for these causes are as well. With fewer resources, individuals are less willing to give away part of what they have to relief efforts. In fact, one is fortunate to have a job and a steady income in this economy. Charity is an exclusive privilege for developed countries while developing countries focus on getting out of poverty. According to the Red Cross Red Crescent, governments are more occupied with trying to end the economic crisis than dealing with the consequences from it. There is a lack of investment in nonprofit organizations and social services because political figures are already spending trillions of dollars on stimulus packages to fix the economy. This is not to say that humanitarianism is dead—it’s simply lower on the global list of priorities. The low global economy triggers human rights abuses and less response to them. Drawing upon this, the reason why certain social issues spring up is because of the recession. Child labor, begging, and piracy stem from the peoples’ need to survive. Myanmar does not have enough money to allot to its population. As a result, the Burmese riot for better conditions, though the government cannot achieve this. Far worse off are the nations that rely on military power and trafficking to sustain their fragile economies. Colombia’s GDP and paramilitaries lean heavily on the narcotics trade and Myanmar uses child soldiers to assert control over shaky ground. Over 27 million victims of human trafficking circulate the globe. Individuals resort to crime and putting their lives at risk when no other financial options are available. Crime rates increase when money, food, shelter, and health care dwindle. Multiple world problems are intertwined with the economic crisis. At this rate, the UN
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Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may never be accomplished. The economic crisis deters their success. How does one expect to end world hunger, provide universal education, and stop the spread of AIDS with little to no funding for these programs? It is difficult to fulfill these lofty goals in five years when the world is currently struggling with the one crisis that binds them together. Poverty fuels discrimination in all forms. Some countries deny certain groups rights and education because there is not enough money to supply everyone in the nation. Deep-rooted cultural biases play a part in who some governments distribute welfare to. They believe it’s unnecessary to spend on “inferior” ethnic groups or women. This in turn marginalizes groups and establishes a pecking order in the country’s culture, thus creating a cycle of poverty for these groups. In the wake of the global economic crisis, national governments are more inclined to focus on securing their wealth rather than giving equal rights to its citizens. Class divisions have become more prevalent due to the economic crisis. Those who are impoverished stay below the poverty line. It is more difficult to get out of poverty than to become poor. There is still hope. Just because the world has less money than before does not mean that it ignores non-financial problems altogether. Nations find their own grassroots solutions to social, cultural, and humanitarian issues. To name a few, Argentina’s Gleducar organization gives free software to its schools and recycles computers to avoid the extra cost of educational supplies. The United States’ plethora of student activist groups raise funds and awareness about human rights causes. Japan sponsors overseas programs to promote understanding of Japanese culture. If each country contributes its part to solve a problem, then the international community would have eliminated it altogether. Despite the harsh economic climate, people still give to charity, although though it is more concentrated among the wealthier population. Also, the United Nations drafts small, cost-effective solutions which serve as steps leading up to long-term goals.
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The United Nations cannot expect to solve world issues if the world does not have the means to support it. The recession deeply shook the foundation of society and hindered its ability to give. A smaller economy limits a nation’s capacity to address social, cultural, and humanitarian issues. The economic crisis may have delayed the world’s progress in these areas, but smaller solutions will ensure their long-term improvement and sustain the international community into the future and beyond. Victoria Yong is a sophomore at Franklin High School.
Bringing Model UN Online By Adam Gold One of the challenges our organization has always faced is the process of actually getting students to our programs. Whether it be because of location, price, or timing, teachers are often unable to bring their students to RUMUN, RMC, or PhilMUN even though they want to make the conferences part of their curriculum or extra-curricular activity. Being that bringing civic engagement to “more students in more places” is a central focus for IDIA in 2011, we have decided to use the internet and its infinite potential for communication to increase access to our proven education strategies. The next step following this decision to bring our programming online was to determine what type of programming could be translated to the World Wide Web. Being that IDIA has the domain name, ModelUN.com, we decided to develop a new website that can provide resources for teachers and students as well as mimic the real life model UN experience in a virtual format. However, just having ModelUN.com and knowing the goals for the site is not nearly enough to create a worthwhile online destination. We have had to think long and
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hard about what resources teachers and students actually need in order to support their current Model UN endeavors inside and outside the classroom. We have had to analyze our current conferences and determine which aspects would translate best online to maintain the quality of the learning experience and a high fun factor. Most importantly, we have had to assess how we can be sure that the site is a living, breathing community of empowered students. While we are still working hard to answer all of those questions and figure out how to apply those answers to the site’s development, we feel very confident that we have a real opportunity to bring civic engagement to the web, and thus more students in more places. For more information about ModelUN.com or to participate in beta testing of the site, please contact me at adam.gold@idia.net. Adam Gold is the Director of Development of IDIA.
Calendar of Events Feb 24-27
PhilMUN 2011
Feb 26
IDIA Alumni Meetup
April 14-17
RMC 2011
April 16
IDIA Alumni Meetup
Early July
Model ECOWAS (Nigeria)
July 21-24
VukiMUN (Croatia)
Nov 10-13
RUMUN 2011
Nov 12
IDIA Alumni Meetup
In late 2010, IDIA launched a brand new membership program for current and former conference staff members. Now, one hundred members strong, this program is ready to experience a prolonged period of growth as we add more membership benefits, take advantage of the membership contributions, and extend the membership opportunity to everyone interested in our organization. IDIA alumni have been asking for years how they can contribute to the organization’s growth and we are glad to have been able to develop a program that encourages contributions and still provides benefits like the membership card, this magazine, and even IDIA apparel for the premium members. Remember, if you have not yet joined, you can do so easily online. The membership options are as follows: Student Membership: Young Alumni Membership: General Membership: Premium Membership:
FREE $20/year $25/year $100/year
We will continue to enhance the membership program in 2011 and with your help, will continue to enhance our organization and its ability to educate, empower, and engage more students in more places. For more information about joining IDIA, please contact us at 732.249.4227 or email join@idia.net. To join the organization, please go to www.idia.net and click on the link to fill out the simple application or just go to:
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www.modelun.com/joinIDIA
January 2011
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