Admissions Panel and Director Workshops

Besides engaging in intellectually-stimulating debates in regular committee sessions, the Secretariat team also wishes to provide delegates an opportunity to learn about things that they have been interested, but haven’t had the opportunity to explore yet. Below are all the director workshops that YMUNK 2024 offers. They are non-mandatory and all delegates can freely choose which workshop to attend.

*Admissions Panel will be held on Day 3, Dec 1, 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM KST

ADMISSIONS PANEL*

Wyatt Huang, Mark Chung, Kate Foglesong, Elora Kim, Evelyn Jiang

The admissions panel features five current Yale undergraduate students who will share their college application experiences in high school, their current life at Yale, and their personal background. These students come from diverse backgrounds, and includes both Yale students who come from international backgrounds and also domestic students in the U.S. To best help the delegates, the panel will consist of a brief introduction of these students’ backgrounds followed by a Q&A for the panelists to address some of the common questions that delegates may have about the college application process and life at Yale. It will be open to all delegates, advisors, and parents, and will be an incredibly helpful way to learn about Yalies’ life first-hand!

**Advisors and Parents’ Panel will be held on Day 2, Nov 30, 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM KST

Advisors & Parents’ Panel**

This year, YMUNK is providing an exciting opportunity in collaboration with our sponsor, Learning Leaders, to host a workshop specifically for attending advisors, parents, and teachers. Since 2014, Learning Leaders has worked with thousands of families and trained students with diverse backgrounds into champions in public speaking and debate competitions. This workshop will provide an opportunity for parents and advisors to ask questions about the college application process, how students can leverage their public speaking/debate experiences to enrich their applications, and how they can help facilitate the translation of these skills to future endeavors. With an extensive background in working with families and students from Grade 5 to Grade 12, Learning Leaders and their panel will serve as a resource for demystifying the application process and equipping parents and educators with essential skills to fostering success.

Workshops will occur on Day 3 (Dec 1st, 2024) at 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM KST

Jeopardy

Raymond Jin, Frank Lin, Elora Kim

In this workshop, the delegates of YMUNK will have the opportunity to participate in a fun, interesting, and engaging game of Jeopardy. Not only will they be able to test their trivia knowledge, but they will also learn more about relevant topics that could help them with YMUNK and their futures as a whole. Guiding delegates to become well-informed citizens of the world is one of the goals of any Model UN conference, and this workshop will do just that, albeit in a more relaxed setting. The workshop will also be a great place for delegates to meet each other and form potential lifelong friendships. If enough delegates attend, teams could also be formed so that delegates can work with each other to obtain as many points as possible. This could further strengthen the bonds between delegates and help ensure that YMUNK XII is a conference to remember for the rest of their life.

Logic Puzzles Workshop

Kyle Guo, Ava Chae, Caleb Nieh

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a series of fun, stimulating, and intellectually challenging logic puzzles. The session aims to hone their critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a relaxed yet interactive setting. Logic puzzles help in improving cognitive abilities such as pattern recognition, deductive reasoning, and abstract thinking. By offering different categories of puzzles, this workshop will appeal to a wide range of interests, ensuring participants can explore the puzzles that fascinate them the most. Additionally, this workshop fosters collaboration and teamwork, allowing participants to work together, form connections, and solve complex problems collectively. The diversity of puzzle types will also ensure a comprehensive mental workout, helping participants become sharper and more creative thinkers.

History of spam

Mark Chung, Nathan Ko

While SPAM—the iconic block of seasoned and canned meat— has been embraced by Asian and Pasifika communities and cultures, it is also a relic of wartime struggle during American imperialism in Asia and the Pacific for decades. This workshop will tackle the complex history of this “miracle in a can,” from its militaristic roots to its effects on American hegemony across Asia and the Pacific. Since the product’s introduction during American occupation of the Pacific front throughout the Second World War, SPAM has found itself on dinner tables and into local cuisines, straddling the line between its identities as a cheap processed meat and a beloved delicacy. Today, SPAM has been reintroduced to the American diet through Asian and Pasifika diasporic communities, holding a dual identity of colonial history and love. What does the embracing of SPAM by diasporic communities tell us about the nuances between pre-colonial and post-colonial Asian and Pasifika identities? How does SPAM represent both imperialism and struggle, and reclamation and joy?

macroeconomics seminar

Kate Foglesong, Alexandra Ceballos, Elizabeth Steeves

This seminar introduces the concept of scarcity and its role in driving trade. Participants will engage in an activity that illustrates how trade allows people to meet their needs more efficiently. Key economic concepts like comparative advantage and specialization will be explored through this interactive exercise. The seminar will highlight the benefits of trade, such as increased consumer satisfaction, resource allocation, and innovation. International trade examples will be discussed, emphasizing how countries specialize and cooperate for mutual economic benefit. By the end, participants will understand how scarcity leads to trade, and how trade enhances economic outcomes for individuals and nations alike.