L.LEA 195 – Diplomacy and International Affairs

Overview: This conference is an eleven-day immersion in Diplomacy and International Relations for high performing high school students. Through classroom teaching, guest speakers, interactive small-group work, and a final simulation, students get exposure to a broad array of current issues relating to many dimensions of international relations. In addition, students are taken through LeadAmerica’s leadership curriculum, which is designed to help them enhance their abilities to lead in their personal, academic, and professional lives. Students who complete the course earn one college credit from Loras College (a second credit is optional). Lecturing is performed by collegiate-level lecturers and experienced professionals with the assistance of Team Leaders, who are typically recent college graduates and undergraduate upperclassmen with an international relations background.

Course Content: Some or all of the topics listed below will be covered in the Diplomacy and International Affairs conference.

Readings: Students will be given approximately 80 pages of collegiate-level background reading assignments in science and engineering. In addition, they will be given approximately 20 additional pages of material to read for the simulation.

Simulation: Throughout the course of the program, students will engage in the roles of American and International decision makers and manage a crisis from inception to conclusion.

Classroom Activities: In addition to lecture and discussion, students will:

         • Meet with representatives of the diplomatic agencies of the United States
         • Meet with representatives of the United Nations
         • Explore cultural differences that could interfere with diplomatic communication
         • Study a single agency or country in depth and represent them in the Security Council
         • Engage in Foreign Policy and International Policy Decision Making

Off-site experiences: In addition to field trips intended to expose students to the city in which the conference is held, conference participants take trips to some or all of the following: The US Department of State, The United Nations, Capitol Hill, Lower Manhattan and Embassies, and New York City and Washington D.C. area monuments.