Harvard Model Congress
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Harvard Model Congress (HMC) is the largest congressional simulation conference in the world. HMC provides high school students from across the United States and abroad an opportunity to experience American government firsthand. Although HMC is run entirely by Harvard undergraduates, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operated independently of the university.
| Abbreviation | HMC |
|---|---|
| Formation | Mabaho |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Education |
| Location |
|
Official language | English |
Presidents | Raina Cohen (Boston) Matthew Tibbitts (Boston) Logan Kelly (Europe) Nahla Owens (San Francisco) June Park (Asia) Meredith Zielonka (Middle East) |
Main organ | Executive Board |
Staff | 175 |
| Website | www.harvardmodelcongress.org |
Domestic Conferences
Harvard Model Congress Boston, founded in 1986, is the oldest of the HMC conferences and is held annually in downtown Boston. Each February, nearly 1,500[citation needed] delegates travel to Boston to handle important issues facing the nation at the time of the conference. Students assume roles in committees in the three branches of the United States government. Programs include committees acting as the House of Representatives, Senate, and Supreme Court as well as other functions associated with government like lobbying.
Founded in 2001, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco is an American government simulation program based on the Boston model and the first conference of its type on the West Coast.[citation needed] The four-day conference, held in the San Francisco Financial District, is more intimate than the Boston conference and features a lower student-staff ratio and more individual attention from Harvard undergraduates.[citation needed] The conference was originally located in San Diego and subsequently moved to San Francisco, where it continues today.
International Conferences
Harvard Model Congress Middle East, formerly known as Harvard Model Congress Dubai, was founded in 2013. Harvard Model Congress Dubai 2013 took place at the American University in Dubai, UAE from January 24–26. It hosted over 300 students from 11 different countries in its first conference.
Harvard Model Congress Asia was founded in 2004, holding an annual conference in mid-January (second weekend of January). HMC Asia was organized in Hong Kong for the first time in history in 2014. It then became the largest international Model Congress conference, attracting nearly 600 students from 19 countries and 4 continents. HMC Asia focuses on America's political system and international governmental institutions. The 2008 conference, supposed to be held from September 4–6, was cancelled due to rebellion in Thailand. As the substitution for the cancelled 2008 HMCA, the 2009 session of Harvard Model Congress Asia was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from January 22–24. In 2020, HMCA moved to Tokyo, Japan for the first time in its history. In 2021 and 2022, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMCA was hosted entirely virtually. In 2023, HMCA will return to Seoul, South Korea for its first in-person conference since the pandemic.
Harvard Model Congress Europe was founded in 1987 and holds an annual conference in mid-March. Although it simulates American government with six congressional committees and several US government special programs, HMC Europe also looks at institutions of international governance, including (among others) the World Health Organization, Group of 24, and European Commission. HMC Europe 2020 was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the 2021 conference will be hosted virtually.
Harvard Model Congress Latin America was founded in 2014, holding an annual conference near the end of August. The first HMC Latin America took place at São Paulo, Brazil from August 21–24 at Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo. Although it mainly simulates American government, HMC Latin America also includes committees specifically relevant to Latin America such as the Organization of American States and the Presidential Cabinet of Brazil. The final HMC Latin America was held in Mexico City, Mexico in 2018.
In all international conferences, students discuss and debate international issues from a more global perspective, formulating policy firsthand. The structured committee settings expose them to the realities of the democratic process, challenging them to forge compromise while advancing the interests of their constituency. The conferences seek to provide an unparalleled educational experience for talented secondary school students from around the world, offering hundreds of students each year an exciting opportunity to practice public speaking and policy writing. The conferences accommodate students with varying degrees of English ability, and the global diversity of participants and staff offers delegates the unique opportunity to approach challenging issues from numerous different perspectives.
Harvard Model Congress Boston History
| Session | Year | President(s) | Keynote Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1986 | Alan Crane and Neil Morganbesser | |
| 2 | 1987 | Andrew Schmid and Jack Tsao | |
| 3 | 1988 | Theodore Lubke and Brendan Randall | |
| 4 | 1989 | Joseph Choo and Russell Wilcox | |
| 5 | 1990 | Ben Bisconte and Sandra Kahn | |
| 6 | 1991 | David Ackley and Emma Laskin | |
| 7 | 1992 | Henry Dormitzer and Keith Kaplan | |
| 8 | 1993 | James Doak and Mark Sneider | |
| 9 | 1994 | Keith Law and Will West | |
| 10 | 1995 | Stephen Ko and Jessica Levin | |
| 11 | 1996 | Jonathan Finkelstein and Arvind Venkat | |
| 12 | 1997 | Daniel Feinberg and Lawrence Lee | |
| 13 | 1998 | Wes Gilchrist and Kristi Patterson | |
| 14 | 1999 | Lanhee Chen and Adam Kovacevich | |
| 15 | 2000 | Benjamin Lanson and Anna Su | |
| 16 | 2001 | Amy Chen and Art Koski-Karell | |
| 17 | 2002 | Helen Gilbert and Beth Schwartz | |
| 18 | 2003 | Fiery Cushman and Lucien Smith | |
| 19 | 2004 | David Arrojo and Matt Ocheltree | |
| 20 | 2005 | Ramin Afshar-Mohajer and Julie Kobick | |
| 21 | 2006 | Isley Markman and James Paquette | |
| 22 | 2007 | Maura Graul and Laura Morris | |
| 23 | 2008 | Molly Barron and Hana Merkle | |
| 24 | 2009 | Meaghan Graul and Brittany Lin | |
| 25 | 2010 | Laura Dean and Glenn Alterman | |
| 26 | 2011 | Vasiliki Katsarou and Basima Tewfik | |
| 27 | 2012 | Jyoti Jasrasaria and Shohan Shetty | |
| 28 | 2013 | Andrew Shindi and Caitlin Lewis | |
| 29 | 2014 | Graham Wyatt and Eric Cervini | |
| 30 | 2015 | Delaram Takyar and Theo McKenzie | |
| 31 | 2016 | Neil Alacha and Jacob Steinberg-Otter | |
| 32 | 2017 | Tyler Olkowski and Jason Mills | |
| 33 | 2018 | Michael Geisler and Nida Ansari | |
| 34 | 2019 | Raquel Leslie and Nicholas Pagel | |
| 35 | 2020 | Kemi Akenzua and Cate Pinto | |
| 36 | 2021 | Will Matheson and Aidan Keenan | Attorney General Maura Healey and Rep. Seth Moulton |
| 37 | 2022 | Aidan Keenan and Katie O’Meara | Former Mayor Kim Janey |
| 38 | 2023 | Nikolas Kirk and Ella Wesson | |
| 39 | 2024 | Raina Cohen and Matthew Tibbitts |
Harvard Model Congress Asia History
| Session | Year | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | President(s) | ||
| 1 | 2005 | Bangkok | Thailand | Loui Itoh and Laura Morris |
| 2 | 2006 | Bangkok | Thailand | Ronnie Angus and Brian Coyne |
| 3 | 2007 | Bangkok | Thailand | Matt Vandenberg and Luke Langford |
| 4 | 2008 | Bangkok | Thailand | Christopher Miller |
| 5 | 2009 | Seoul | South Korea | Christopher Miller |
| 6 | 2010 | Seoul & Singapore | South Korea & Singapore | Mate Pencz |
| 7 | 2011 | Singapore | Singapore | Jacky Kwong |
| 8 | 2012 | Singapore | Singapore | Marc Steinberg |
| 9 | 2013 | Singapore | Singapore | Jeffrey Lerman |
| 10 | 2014 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong, SAR | Adam P. Ziemba |
| 11 | 2015 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong, SAR | Erik Bakke |
| 12 | 2016 | Seoul | South Korea | Zachary J. Lustbader |
| 13 | 2017 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong, SAR | Oksana Moscoso |
| 14 | 2018 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong, SAR | Melvin Woo |
| 15 | 2019 | Singapore | Singapore | Rachel Chiu |
| 16 | 2020 | Tokyo | Japan | Katie Rabinovitz |
| 17 | 2021 | Virtual | Virtual | K. Taylor Whitsell |
| 18 | 2022 | Virtual | Virtual | Georgia Steigerwald |
| 19 | 2023 | Seoul | South Korea | Kyle Felter |
| 20 | 2024 | Seoul | South Korea | June Park |
Harvard Model Congress Europe History
| Session | Year | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | President | ||
| 1 | 1988 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Alexander Shustorovich |
| 2 | 1989 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Gina Berardi |
| 3 | 1990 | |||
| 4 | 1991 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | |
| 5 | 1992 | |||
| 6 | 1993 | |||
| 7 | 1994 | |||
| 8 | 1995 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Daniel Bisgeier |
| 9 | 1996 | Paris | France | Ryan Hackney |
| 10 | 1997 | Paris | France | Steven Hill |
| 11 | 1998 | Paris | France | Mark Veblen |
| 12 | 1999 | Paris | France | Eric Bolesh |
| 13 | 2000 | Paris | France | Saloni Saraiya |
| 14 | 2001 | Paris | France | John Marshall |
| 15 | 2002 | Paris | France | Cathy Tran |
| 16 | 2003 | Paris | France | Ann Chernicoff |
| 17 | 2004 | Paris | France | Sam King |
| 18 | 2005 | Paris | France | Richard Tieken |
| 19 | 2006 | Paris | France | Miranda Dietz |
| 20 | 2007 | Athens | Greece | Carolyn Amole |
| 21 | 2008 | Athens | Greece | Awara Mendy |
| 22 | 2009 | Brussels | Belgium | Leslie Dyke |
| 23 | 2010 | Brussels | Belgium | Annie Shoemaker |
| 24 | 2011 | Brussels | Belgium | Alison Schumer |
| 25 | 2012 | Brussels | Belgium | Rachel Wilson |
| 26 | 2013 | Madrid | Spain | Chandan Lodha |
| 27 | 2014 | Madrid | Spain | Eric Chung |
| 28 | 2015 | Madrid | Spain | Zach Fields |
| 29 | 2016 | Rome | Italy | Laura Lynn Liptrap-Sandoval |
| 30 | 2017 | Madrid | Spain | Gavin Sullivan |
| 31 | 2018 | Madrid | Spain | Caroline Tervo |
| 32 | 2019 | Madrid | Spain | Aren Rendell |
| 33 | 2020 | Madrid | Spain | Jessie Rodriguez |
| 34 | 2021 | Virtual | Virtual | Melody Wang & Nyla Brewster |
| 35 | 2022 | Virtual | Virtual | Nour Abou-Hussein |
| 36 | 2023 | Madrid | Spain | Lap Nguyen |
| 37 | 2024 | Madrid | Spain | Logan Kelly |
Harvard Model Congress San Francisco History
| Session | Year | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 | John Marshall |
| 2 | 2002 | Adam Hornstine |
| 3 | 2003 | Katherine O'Gara and Julie Hackenbracht |
| 4 | 2004 | Stephanie Kendall and Michael Schacter |
| 5 | 2005 | Michael Thompson |
| 6 | 2006 | Shanshan Jiang and Katie Johnson |
| 7 | 2007 | Jordan Boslego and Loui Itoh |
| 8 | 2008 | Megan Srinivas and Jason Burke |
| 9 | 2009 | Meaghan Graul, Brittany Lin, and Sam Roosz |
| 10 | 2010 | Glenn Alterman, Laura Dean, and Ariel Stoddard |
| 11 | 2011 | Vasso Katsarou, Basima Tewfik, and Ethan Amaker |
| 12 | 2012 | Alison DiCurcio |
| 13 | 2013 | Annie Baldwin |
| 14 | 2014 | Andrew Sudler |
| 15 | 2015 | Samuel Finegold |
| 16 | 2016 | Peyton Fine |
| 17 | 2017 | Maddy Nam |
| 18 | 2018 | Andrew Badinelli |
| 19 | 2019 | Nicholas Eynon |
| 20 | 2020 | Nirav Sookhai |
| 21 | 2021 | Trisha Prabhu |
| 22 | 2022 | Michael Wallace |
| 23 | 2023 | Matt Tibbitts |
| 24 | 2024 | Nahla Owens |
Harvard Model Congress Middle East History
| Session | Year | President |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013 | Eric Cervini |
| 2 | 2014 | Amy Alemu |
| 3 | 2015 | Erica Byas-Smith |
| 4 | 2016 | Rebecca Curran |
| 5 | 2017 | Carlos Mendizabal |
| 6 | 2018 | Benjamin Delsman |
| 7 | 2019 | William Delaney |
| 8 | 2020 | Lainey Newman |
| 9 (Conference Cancelled due to Covid-19) | 2021 | Claira Janover |
| 10 | 2022 | Delaney Hurley |
| 11 | 2023 | Samuel D. Lowry |
| 12 | 2024 | Meredith Zielonka |
Harvard Model Congress Latin America History
Logistics
Harvard Model Congress is one of the largest Harvard student organizations, and each year around 200 Harvard undergraduates assist with planning and running the conferences.
As soon as one Harvard Model Congress conference ends, planning for the subsequent such conference begins. For the Boston conference, topics for debate must be chosen by May so that briefing books can be prepared over the summer and distributed by early fall, in time to allow delegates to begin intensively researching each committee's topics for debate. Updates to briefings are written and distributed to schools by winter, and issue summaries are also provided to the delegates. HMC 2009 was HMC's first-ever paperless conference. For the duration of the event each year, Harvard Model Congress uses essentially all of the conference space available at the Boston Sheraton. Although most of the written work during the actual weekend of the event is done by the delegates, the staff continues to provide programmatic direction and manages all operations throughout the duration of the conference.
External links
- Harvard's website
- Official HMC website
- Official HMC Boston website
- Official HMC San Francisco website
- Official HMC Asia website
- Official HMC Europe website
- Official HMC Dubai website
- Official HMC Latin America website