News

From October 27-29, 2011, students are invited to travel to New York City to participate in the 16th annual seminar hosted by the MCC United Nations Office.

Each fall, the MCC UN Office conducts a seminar for approximately 40 students from Anabaptist colleges, universities, and seminaries in the United States and Canada. The seminar focuses on a prominent item on the UN agenda that is of pressing concern for MCC and the communities with whom it works. Its purpose is to engage and educate MCC's constituency about the relief, development, and peacebuilding challenges that MCC addresses by offering students first-hand exposure to the people who make and inform policy at the UN headquaters in New York.

After the seminar, students return to their campuses with an understanding of a challenging international issue; an appreciation for the strengths, limitations, and possibilities of the UN system; and a greater awareness of what it means to be a responsible Christian in a complex world. Last year's seminar explored the challenges of mining justice and featured dynamic speakers from the DR Congo, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

This year's student seminar, scheduled for October 27-29th, is called "Constructing Nationhood: Civil Society, National Government and the International Community." In every level of state-building, civil society, national government, and the international community play strategic roles in contributing to the re-establishment of a thriving country. To dig deeper into these complex issues, seminar participants will analyze the challenges of nation-building after drastic changes in leadership or devastating natural disasters.

Registration forms and more information about the seminar are available from Kayon Watson (unoffice2@mcc.org) at the MCC UN office. The registration deadline is October 3.