April 27, 2009
YORK, Pa. – York College of Pennsylvania students have participated in the Model Arab League since 1996, but this year several earned recognition at both the regional and national level.
Held annually in Washington, D.C., the National University Model Arab League (NUMAL) is an academic debate forum centered around issues relevant to the 22 Arab countries that comprise the League of Arab States.
York College students participate in the Model Arab League as part of a course in the Department of History and Political Science, “Model Arab League: The Foreign Policies of Arab States.” Taught by Assistant Professor Saroj Khanna, Ph.D., and Adjunct Faculty Member Craig Ilgenfritz, Ph.D., the course focuses on the study of Arab foreign policies and employs the Model Arab League as an instrument of experiential learning.
“Such simulations are powerful teaching tools in terms of parliamentary procedure, negotiation, and, of course, the subject matter at hand -- in this case, the culture, history and politics of the Middle East,” Ilgenfritz said.
The Model Arab League is structured so that students from various parts of the country behave as if they are delegations from specific Arab countries to the League of Arab States, and they are governed by Arab League rules from that international organization's charter. Each delegation must be in the character of the state they represent and the character of that state's diplomatic corps, according to Ilgenfritz. “The students who participate must not only know the culture, history, politics and foreign policy of ‘their’ county,” he said, “but also of the Middle East and its external environment, which requires a strong commitment to the course.”
The objective of each student delegation is to shape, as best as the delegation can, the final resolutions that are passed on the third and final day at the Arab League Summit in the interests of their country. The delegations consist of at least five students, each of whom is on one of five councils. The councils are Joint Defense, Palestinian Affairs, Social Affairs, Political Affairs and Environmental Affairs.
The ten students of the Model Arab League course at York College represented Algeria and Syria in the Ohio Regional Model Arab League in February at Miami University. One of the students, Jeffrey Beck, a senior history major from Woodbine, Md., won an Honorable Mention award as a representative of Syria on the Council of Palestinian Affairs. “This is quite an achievement given the rather large number of students who participated,” Ilgenfritz said.
Two students who participated in the regional event approached Ilgenfritz about attending the National University Model Arab League in Washington, D.C., in March. He thought that, at best, the students would be invited to help administer the national event. “I thought along these lines because, having been involved in these simulations for nearly 20 years, I knew that only best and well-seasoned Model Arab League delegations got into the National,” Ilgenfritz said.
Ilgenfritz was pleasantly surprised, however, when he was informed that the students – Courtney Baird, a sophomore political science major from Oakhurst, N.J., and Jessica Cadavid, a senior political science major from Reading – would be asked to participate on a delegation for Eritrea, an observer state to the League. He and several other faculty members provided support and preparation to Baird and Cadavid as they prepared for their upcoming experience at the National Model.
“The National Model is like going from the minor to the major leagues,” Ilgenfritz said. “It requires much more experience and is much more formal than a regional model. Also, most of the Arab embassies get involved with the students at the National. Ambassadors go to the model and students go to the embassies, for instance.”
Not only did Baird and Cadavid have the opportunity to participate in the National, they earned special recognition as members of the delegation from Eritrea.
“At nationals, everybody had been getting ready for months,” Cadavid said. “They come with big teams, dual advisors and notebooks full of information. Courtney and I had no adviser. It was just us, with a little country that is not known by many. However, we worked hard. We did research and spoke like a developing country, and our voice was heard. We stood out in the crowd.”
“The most important thing I took away from this simulation was an appreciation of the perspectives and concerns of others, particularly those who held completely contradictory views from those I was advocating,” Baird added. “Model Arab League requires a novel type of thinking that challenges students to come up with creative solutions to very real problems in today's world, solutions guided by current events, history, geography and cultural values.”
Located in southcentral Pennsylvania, York College offers more than 50 baccalaureate majors in professional programs, the sciences and humanities to its 4,600 undergraduate students. The College also offers master's programs in business, education and nursing. A center of affordable academic excellence, York is dedicated to the intellectual, professional and social growth of its students. The College helps them develop a concrete plan to attain academic growth and career success; encourages them to try in the “real world” what they learn in the classroom; and prepares them to be professionals regardless of the career they pursue.
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