Students from five local secondary schools—and one in Michigan—will meet on the UWindsor campus this weekend to debate, discuss and deliberate world issues. The University’s Model United Nations is hosting the high school conference Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30.

The teens will serve in a mock General Assembly exploring the topic of gender equality, a NATO committee discussing cyber-security, a Security Council debating approaches to the challenge of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and a crisis committee that will consider an alternate history in which the D-Day invasion of Nazi-held France failed. In addition, delegates may take on the role of journalists reporting on the proceedings in real time.

Participating schools include Windsor’s Assumption College, Catholic Central, St. Jospeh’s and Vincent Massey secondary schools, Tecumseh Vista Academy and Michigan’s Troy Athens High School.

Secretary-General Kirthana Sasitharan, a UWindsor drama student, says the international attendance is especially appropriate, given that the theme of the conference is “Border Culture.”

“We encourage our delegates to keep in mind the role that the border plays in affecting international relations,” she says. “Windsor, being known as a border city, plays an important role in the development of our relationship with the United States.”

Windsor West MP Brian Masse and Douglas George, Consul General of Canada in Detroit, will participate in the opening ceremonies Friday. The conference is co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science.