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Announcements |
| Harvard Model Congress Singapore 2010 Information |
11th January 2010 |
Dear Faculty Advisors,
We hope that you and your students are all excited about joining us at this year's annual Harvard Model Congress Asia conference. Before we meet in Singapore to commence committee activities, we wanted to send you a few crucial details beforehand.
* We wanted to remind you that the dress code for the conference is business formal. This means a jacket and tie for gentlemen and comparable attire for women. Skirts are acceptable as long as they are respectful.
* We have finalized our conference schedule and you may find it under this link: http://www.hmcasia.org/conf_sched.php We will be ending the conference 30min earlier each day (5:30pm) due to logistical reasons and have slightly adjusted the schedule to accommodate this change.
* Registration: Will take place in the morning of the 1st conference day, however, should you have any prior questions you may address them at the soft drink social the night before. You may also email us at info@hmcasia.org.
* Laptops: Students can bring laptops, but are not encouraged to and should use them sparingly in committee.
* We will have a social event on the night of the 14th at 9pm at the Holiday Inn Orchard CityCenter. Please let us know if you have trouble finding us or need directions. The dress code is casual and the event will last until around 10pm or 1030pm. Soft drinks will be provided and students will get a chance to interact with their chairs in an informal setting. You can also call the hotel at +65-6-7338333.
* Students should bring pen and paper with them and ideally have their briefings and any other materials they might want to use throughout the conference.
* We will provide lunch and tea breaks throughout the conference. For the lunch breaks, we will have lunch boxes with Western and Chinese food as well as a vegetarian option. The daily tea breaks are catered with tea/coffee/water as well as finger food and pastries.
* Awards: We will be giving participations awards to everybody who completes the conference successfully. We will also have several awards of excellence per committee that are awarded based on exceptional performance. The guidelines for that will be laid out in committee.
* Schools staying at our conference hotel (Holiday Inn) will be transported by bus from the hotel to the conference center on each morning.
Lastly, as a reminder we wanted to include the most important cornerstones of the political procedures:
1. Political Parties
We will spend a good deal of time on the first day working with students (at least those who are in US-focused programs) and helping them understand what the two political parties believe and why. 'Liberal' and 'conservative' have different meanings in every country, so we try to encourage students to think about how the parties' ideology about the role of government affects their policy positions. Basic disctinctions -- Republicans tend to support lower taxes, be pro-business, support traditionally social mores, and less interested in international multilateralism, whereas Democrats tend toward the opposite views -- are what we want students to grasp. Once they understand the basic contours of party politics, they can start understanding how the parties will approach their specific issue.
To help teach this, we use the Guide to Partisanship (attached) which outlines the differences in ideology, history, geographic base, and interest group support between the two parties.
2. The Constitution
The best way to understanding the US government -- and especially its eccentricities -- is by understanding the constitution. We try to emphasize the basic goals of the constitution, especially: (1) enumerating individual liberties in the Bill of Rights; (2) creating a system that benefits from checks and balances and the separation of powers; and (3) providing mechanisms to incorporate the will of the people in government (through elections) but also to balance the majority's tendency towards rash decision-making (what Tocqueville called the 'tyranny of the majority.'
3. Federalism
Many countries don't have a concept of federalism at all, or have a very weak idea of devolution. In the US system, of course, federalism defines much of politics. We want students to understand (a) why the constitution thinks federalism is a good idea; (b) the types of activities that are undertaken by the federal government, by state governments, and are shared; and (c) the way that federalism shapes politics and policy-making.
4. Discussion and Debate
Finally, we always spend some time on the first date talking about our goals for the debate. We talk about setting up structured arguments, using evidence to support claims, and rebutting opposing arguments. Your students will probably be familiar with many of these concepts, but with think it never hurts to remind them.
We are also strong believers in learning about compromise, which is an essential fact of any country's political process. In addition to teaching students to articulate their own beliefs and rebut their opponents, we also want to talk about how, when, and why to compromise, and how to build consensus. This is more intangible, but I think that it deserves a particular mention.
We hope you find this helpful. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Warm regards,
The HMC Asia Board |
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