Harvard Model Congress

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Harvard Model Congress
Abbreviation HMC
Formation 1986
Type NGO
Purpose Education
Location
Official language
 English
Presidents
 Neil Alacha
Jacob Steinberg-Otter
Laura Lynn Liptrap-Sandoval (Europe)
Peyton Fine (San Francisco)
Zachary J. Lustbader (Asia)
Rebecca Curran (Middle East)
Oksana Moscoso (Latin America)
Main organ
 Executive Board
Website www.harvardmodelcongress.org

Harvard Model Congress (HMC) is the largest congressional simulation conference in the world, providing high school students from across the United States and abroad with an opportunity to experience American government firsthand. Although HMC is run entirely by Harvard undergraduates, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is operated independently of the university.

Domestic Conferences

Harvard Model Congress Boston, founded in 1986, is the oldest of the HMC conferences and is held annually in downtown Boston. Each February, nearly 1,500 delegates descend into Boston to tackle the most pressing and important issues facing the nation as they assume roles in each of the three branches of the United States government and beyond. Exciting and diverse programs, ranging from committees in the House of Representatives, Senate, and Supreme Court, to special programs such as press, lobbyists, and the National Security Council, help bring American government to life and have established Harvard Model Congress Boston as one of the nation's premier American government simulation programs.

Founded in 2001, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco is an American government simulation program based on the successful Boston model and the first conference of its type on the West Coast. Over 300 delegates from across the country travel to HMCSF to learn about American government. The four-day conference, held in the San Francisco Financial District, is more intimate than the Boston conference and features a lower student-staff ratio and more individual attention from Harvard undergraduates. The conference was originally located in San Diego and subsequently moved to San Francisco, where it continues today.

International Conferences

Harvard Model Congress Dubai was founded in 2013. This conference has a strong focus on presenting Congressional and international committees for a diverse set of international students. Harvard Model Congress Dubai 2013 took place at the American University in Dubai, UAE from January 24-26. It had the pleasure of hosting over 300 students from 11 different countries in its inaugural conference. Next year's 2014 conference will also take place in Dubai, scheduled for January 23-25.

Harvard Model Congress Asia was founded in 2004, holding an annual conference in mid-January (second weekend of January). HMC Asia 2014 took place in Hong Kong for the first time in its history, and has become the largest international conference, attracting nearly 600 students from 19 countries and 4 continents. Despite its size, HMC Asia boasts the lowest student-to-staff ratio of any of the model congress conferences. HMC Asia focuses on America's political system and international governmental institutions. The 2008 conference, supposed to held from September 4-6, was cancelled due to rebellion in Thailand. As the substitution for the cancelled 2008 HMCA, the 2009 session of Harvard Model Congress Asia was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from January 22-24.

Harvard Model Congress Europe was founded in 1987, holding an annual conference in mid-March. Although it maintains a strong tradition of American government simulation, HMC Europe also has a strong focus on institutions of international governance, including (among others) the World Health Organization, Group of Eight, and European Union.

Harvard Model Congress Latin America was founded in 2014, holding an annual conference near the end of August. The first HMC Latin America will take place in São Paulo, Brazil from August 21-24 at Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo. Although it maintains a strong tradition of American government simulation, HMC Latin America also includes committees specifically relevant to Latin America such as the Organization of American States and the Presidential Cabinet of Brazil.

In all international conferences, students discuss and debate international issues from a more global perspective, formulating policy firsthand. The structured committee settings expose them to the realities of the democratic process, challenging them to forge compromise while advancing the interests of their constituency. The conferences seek to provide an unparalleled educational experience for talented secondary school students from around the world, offering hundreds of students each year an exciting opportunity to practice public speaking and policy writing. The conferences accommodate students with varying degrees of English ability, and the global diversity of participants and staff offers delegates the unique opportunity to approach challenging issues from numerous different perspectives.

Harvard Model Congress Boston History

Session Year President(s)
1 1986 Alan Crane and Neil Morganbesser
2 1987 Andrew Schmid and Jack Tsao
3 1988 Theodore Lubke and Brendan Randall
4 1989 Joseph Choo and Russell Wilcox
5 1990 Ben Bisconte and Sandra Kahn
6 1991 David Ackley and Emma Laskin
7 1992 Henry Dormitzer and Keith Kaplan
8 1993 James Doak and Mark Sneider
9 1994 Keith Law and Will West
10 1995 Stephen Ko and Jessica Levin
11 1996 Jonathan Finkelstein and Arvind Venkat
12 1997 Daniel Feinberg and Lawrence Lee
13 1998 Wes Gilchrist and Kristi Patterson
14 1999 Lanhee Chen and Adam Kovacevich
15 2000 Benjamin Lanson and Anna Su
16 2001 Amy Chen and Art Koski-Karell
17 2002 Helen Gilbert and Beth Schwartz
18 2003 Fiery Cushman and Lucien Smith
19 2004 David Arrojo and Matt Ocheltree
20 2005 Ramin Afshar-Mohajer and Julie Kobick
21 2006 Isley Markman and James Paquette
22 2007 Maura Graul and Laura Morris
23 2008 Molly Barron and Hana Merkle
24 2009 Meaghan Graul and Brittany Lin
25 2010 Laura Dean and Glenn Alterman
26 2011 Vasiliki Katsarou and Basima Tewfik
27 2012 Jyoti Jasrasaria and Shohan Shetty
28 2013 Andrew Shindi and Caitlin Lewis
29 2014 Graham Wyatt and Eric Cervini
30 2015 Delaram Takyar and Theo McKenzie
31 2016 Neil Alacha and Jacob Steinberg-Otter

Harvard Model Congress Asia History

Session Year Location
City Country President(s)
1 2005 Bangkok Thailand Loui Itoh and Laura Morris
2 2006 Bangkok Thailand Ronnie Angus and Brian Coyne
3 2007 Bangkok Thailand Matt Vandenberg and Luke Langford
4 2008 Bangkok Thailand Christopher Miller
5 2009 Seoul South Korea Christopher Miller
6 2010 Seoul & Singapore South Korea & Singapore Mate Pencz
7 2011 Singapore Singapore Jacky Kwong
8 2012 Singapore Singapore Marc Steinberg
9 2013 Singapore Singapore Jeffrey Lerman
10 2014 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Adam P. Ziemba
11 2015 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Erik Bakke
12 2016 Seoul South Korea Zachary J. Lustbader

Harvard Model Congress Europe History

Session Year Location
City Country President
1 1988 Luxembourg Luxembourg
2 1989 Luxembourg Luxembourg
3 1990
4 1991 Luxembourg Luxembourg
5 1992
6 1993
7 1994
8 1995 Luxembourg Luxembourg Daniel Bisgeier
9 1996 Paris France Ryan Hackney
10 1997 Paris France Steven Hill
11 1998 Paris France Mark Veblen
12 1999 Paris France Eric Bolesh
13 2000 Paris France Saloni Saraiya
14 2001 Paris France John Marshall
15 2002 Paris France Cathy Tran
16 2003 Paris France Ann Chernicoff
17 2004 Paris France Sam King
18 2005 Paris France Richard Tieken
19 2006 Paris France Miranda Dietz
20 2007 Athens Greece Carolyn Amole
21 2008 Athens Greece Awara Mendy
22 2009 Brussels Belgium Leslie Dyke
23 2010 Brussels Belgium Annie Shoemaker
24 2011 Brussels Belgium Alison Schumer
25 2012 Brussels Belgium Rachel Wilson
26 2013 Madrid Spain Chandan Lodha
27 2014 Madrid Spain Eric Chung
28 2015 Madrid Spain Zach Fields
29 2016 TBD TBD Laura Lynn Liptrap-Sandoval

Harvard Model Congress San Francisco History

Session Year President(s)
1 2001 Katherine O'Gara
2 2002 Adam Hornstine
3 2003 Katherine O'Gara and Julie Hackenbracht
4 2004 Stephanie Kendall and Michael Schacter
5 2005 Michael Thompson
6 2006 Shanshan Jiang and Katie Johnson
7 2007 Jordan Boslego and Loui Itoh
8 2008 Megan Srinivas and Jason Burke
9 2009 Meaghan Graul, Brittany Lin, and Sam Roosz
10 2010 Glenn Alterman, Laura Dean, and Ariel Stoddard
11 2011 Vasso Katsarou, Basima Tewfik, and Ethan Amaker
12 2012 Alison DiCurcio
13 2013 Annie Baldwin
14 2014 Andrew Sudler
15 2015 Samuel Finegold
16 2016 Peyton Fine

Harvard Model Congress Dubai History

Session Year President
1 2013 Eric Cervini
2 2014 Amy Alemu
3 2015 Erica Byas-Smith
4 2016 Rebecca Curran

Harvard Model Congress Latin America History

Session Year Location
City Country President
1 2014 São Paulo Brazil Enzo Vasquez
2 2015 São Paulo Brazil Oksana Moscoso

Logistics

Harvard Model Congress strives to prepare the next generation of democratic leaders and global citizens. Because of their sheer size, the Harvard Model Congress conferences require a large amount of planning by the students hosting the events. Harvard Model Congress is one of the largest Harvard student organizations, and each year around 200 Harvard undergraduates assist with planning and running the conferences.

As soon as one Harvard Model Congress conference ends, planning for the subsequent such conference begins. For the Boston conference, topics for debate must be chosen by May so that briefing books can be prepared over the summer and distributed by early fall, in time to allow delegates to begin intensively researching each committee's topics for debate. Updates to briefings are written and distributed to schools by winter, and issue summaries are also provided to the delegates. HMC 2009 is slated to be HMC's first-ever paperless conference. For the duration of the event each year, Harvard Model Congress uses essentially all of the conference space available at the Boston Sheraton. Although most of the written work during the actual weekend of the event is done by the delegates, the staff continues to provide programmatic direction and manages all operations throughout the duration of the conference.

External links

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