Model United Nations Project
Stewart French, associate professor of Political Science, is working on setting up the Model UN program at SVSU. Professor French is dedicated to helping students see that the world is a model for professors and students alike.
The Model UN program allows students to enhance their cognitive and analytical skills, while making them better citizens through the extensive participation with the laws and procedures of government. The plan is to use the program as a means of supplementing the courses students take throughout their time at SVSU. and make them more politically aware citizens
Professor French has developed a five-year plan for the creation of the Model UN, which begins with an observation period carried out at regional and faculty training programs. Then he will offer a Model UN program for area high schools that do not already have the program. Professor French hopes to work with the Department of Education to enlist future teachers to provide their services for the supervision and creation of these programs around the community.
The Model UN w ill help students gain a more practical introduction to politics at an earlier age, and will also provide a good example of the programs SVSU offers. Third, French hopes to create SVSU’s own Model UN team using experience gained through the high school trials, and his goal is to eventually make it to national competition.
Stewart French received his master’s degree in Political Science at the University of Central Florida, and he has completed all but his dissertation at Michigan State University. French’s area of specialization is comparative politics, which means he looks at the legislatures, party structure and electoral laws of countries throughout the world. He is most interested in the human interaction that takes place in politics and how that interaction affects the ways in which different governments play out.