High School
Students Debate Contemporary World Issues
at the University of the Pacific and USC
Student diplomats learn the art of diplomacy in tackling global problems
Four hundred ninth and tenth graders, many who previously had no interest in
history or political affairs, will practice the exacting craft of
international diplomacy on the University of the Pacific campus Saturday,
May 10, and at USC on May 17, as they deliberate real-life issues ranging
from human rights abuses in China to terrorism. The Global Forum, which
kicks off at 9 a.m. and continues throughout the day, is the culminating event of the yearlong Contemporary World
History Project sponsored by the California International Studies Project
(CISP) of Stanford University.
Marilyn Benefiel, Project Manager for CISP says that “The
project is particularly relevant in the wake of 9/11 and the US invasion of
Iraq. The students tell us that the program has both educated them on the
history of such conflicts and has helped ease their fears by being an outlet
to express opinions.”
While the content is rigorous enough to challenge college
students, the state-funded project is particularly interested in involving
classrooms with a high proportion of English learners or at-risk students.
The student diplomats participating Saturday represent eight high schools in
Northern California, and three schools from Southern California. About
20,000 students have participated since the project was established in 1995.
Students
attending the forum at Pacific spend a year studying unresolved global
issues in their world history classes as they pertain to State standards.
Topics such as child labor, international debt and regional conflict
management help make history relevant to today’s world for students.
In class, they take on the identities of representatives from 18 countries,
ranging from Pakistan to Germany to Vietnam, and learn how to argue their
respective government's positions. They draft treaties and have online
discussions and negotiations with other students in participating schools.
During the Global Forum, the student diplomats don suits and
ties and assume the negotiating tact of diplomats, defending their nations'
policies in a respectful yet persuasive manner. Benefiel says that
“Sometimes the students have to represent positions at odds with their
personal opinions. They have to listen to other viewpoints. They learn a
very different way of interacting with people. It gets them out of the
self-focused mode that many teens have. They acquire conflict solving and
negotiating skills that they can also apply to their personal lives.”
CISP is funded by the California Subject Matter Projects, a state-funded,
professional development network for K-12 teachers.
