BUSUN – Brown University Simulations of the United Nations
As part of the serious commitment that BIS has for Model United Nations program, the school has been participating in one international MUN during the academic year. Having traditionally gone for the Harvard Model UN (HMUN) in the US for many years, the school took a conscious decision to try a different path – to seek a forum that would host a smaller group of students who would then be able to participate in effective debate.
We tried the Cornell United Nations Conference for a few years, and enjoyed the change. However, realizing that the Cornell MUNC was growing too, last year we explored other avenues and decided on the Brown University Simulations of the United Nations (BUSUN).
A delegation of 7 students from Grade 9 represented the school at BUSUN 2013, and they have returned with a lot of positive memories. Here is what they had to say…..
“BUSUN gave us not only a chance to test our oratory skills but also to interact with students from different nationalities and integrate with them as a whole. The freezing cold weather in Boston was challenging, as was the high level of debate with international delegates who shared their experience and knowledge with us. BUSUN 2013 was an excellent forum, geared to recognize the individual potential of every delegate as well as the success of the Committee as a whole.”
“At BUSUN 2013, we learnt what the United Nations essentially does – The UN tries and solves national issues so as to benefit its members and its member nations. The decisions made at the UN affect the world asa social sphere. Thus, there is immense pressure on a group of people who supposedly fit the criteria of being able to solve international crises. BUSUN is a way for us to experience a fraction of that pressure.At BUSUN 2013, we were motivated to brainstorm and create solutions to solve the issue at hand and prevent it from occurring in the future. Through research, we gained tremendous knowledge and were saturated with information about our individual country; yet, we never seemed to know enough. At BUSUN, we learnt that ‘muning’ is a constant process of learning, whether it is about your country or one 5000 miles away.”
“The people, students, delegates, faculty that we met along the way also enriched our experience and we were able to view the world from many different perspectives. This opened our mindsand stretched our learning potential. We were able to understand how people from different parts of the world believe certain things about India - our country, and we were able to contradict and correct their view by facts, figures, arguments and debates; and vice versa.”
“What we took back from this experience was that even though each one of us enjoyed different aspects of BUSUN, there was still a whole lot to learn from it. BUSUN 2013 was incredible and we would like to thank Ms. Seervai for allowing us to be a part of it!”
The Indian delegation at BUSUN 2013: Anoushka Mariwala, Arsh Sekseria, Divyakshi Kedia, Nakshatra Doshi, Nevile Contractor, Simone Vesavevala, Sumee Chohan.