Model Programs

Converse is the nation’s top Model Programs diplomatic simulation team. As one commentator called it, we are “the gold standard for such activities.”  Our teams have bested Harvard University and other Ivy League institutions, the US Military Academy, US Air Force Academy, American University of Cairo, University of California Berkeley, Northwestern and George Washington University, as well as several European universities. Several of our graduates (like Holly Jordan ‘06) have gone on to start Model Programs teams in other schools, both nationally and abroad.

What exactly are Model Programs, you might ask? Converse’s two programs, International Model NATO and Model Arab League, are competitive simulations in which students write, debate, and pass resolutions on issues of international concern. One of Converse’s primary goals is to prepare students for leadership. We put students in situations to develop their analytical, speaking, writing and administrative skills. International Model NATO and Model Arab Leagues are highly interactive seminars that demand student engagement.

Want to see the world? More than 20 Converse delegates have been awarded full or partially funded study/travel trips to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and several European countries through Model Programs.

Model Arab League

For more than 30 years, the Converse Model Arab League delegation has been the national power in competition against delegations from the United States and the Middle East.  Converse also hosts the Southeast University Model Arab States conference annually on campus. Converse Model Arab League has had more than a dozen consecutive national championships.

Newslines: The Newsletter of the Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations

• Volume 37, No 1 (May 2023)
• Volume 36, No 1 (June 2022)
• Volume 35, No 1 (June 2021)
• Volume 34, Vol 1 (June 2020)
• Volume 32, No 1 (June 2018)
• Volume 31, No 1 (June 2017)

International Model NATO

The Converse Model NATO delegation has won the International Model NATO competition for ten years against universities from the United States, Canada, Britain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and other countries. Converse is the permanent Secretariat for International Model NATO responsible for running the conference in Washington, DC annually.  Converse has six consecutive national championships in Model NATO. We are also the permanent secretariat of Model NATO and annually provide the secretary-general, assistant secretary-general, chief of staff and all committee chairs.

Your Next Step

Do you have what it takes to join Model Programs? Apply to Converse today and contact Joe Dunn for more information about Model Programs.