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Bring the United Nations to Mid-MissouriBy Oona Thommes Paredes At the University of Missouri-Columbia, students have many opportunities to engage the wider world that lies beyond our relatively idyllic midwestern college town. Now we can add another avenue for internationalization to the list. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Roy Fox, Professor and Chair of the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum in the College of Education, and Director of the Missouri Writing Project, and some of his doctoral students, a chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA, or UNA-USA, is in the process of formation. The UNA-USA is a non-profit organization affiliated with the World Federation of United Nations Associations, and dedicated to building understanding and support among the American people for the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. Its origins go as far back as 1943, part of a private effort led by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to promote awareness of global issues, such as the UN's Millennium Development Goals, among the American people. Notable among its national programs are the Adopt-A-Minefield campaign, the Global Classrooms program that brings the Model UN experience to American public schools, and the HERO campaign to support children in communities affected by HIV-AIDS in Africa. After hearing about the work of the UNA-USA at the recent annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Professor Fox rallied his students to action. Kangmo Lim and Hsiao-Chien Lee, both doctoral students in the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum, are spearheading the organization. Ms. Lee, who grew up in Taiwan, needed a little more time to appreciate what it was all about. She says that, initially, she agreed to become involved simply because of Professor Fox and her friend Kangmo. Her motto at the time was, “Why not?” In a sense, she did not consider herself to be really involved, working as she was without an awareness of the larger global issues addressed by the UNA-USA. Eventually, perhaps inevitably, she explains, she began to see the global picture. “It opened up something for me,” she says of her involvement with UNA-USA. And this is exactly the kind of realization that the UNA-USA tries to bring to its constituents. For Mr. Lim, in contrast, the global picture has always been a part of his consciousness. Certainly the fact that the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, is a fellow South Korean, would be motivation enough for some. However, the imperative for involvement came from deep in his personal history growing up in South Korea. Having been personally affected by the Korean War means that the work of the United Nations has always been “a big issue in my life,” he explains. He is old enough to remember and appreciate the arrival of multinational UN forces to help his people deal with the aftermath of the war that killed his grandfather and destroyed his mother's family home. The country's subsequent political development shaped his personal interest in human rights. And before he began his doctoral studies, he learned about peacekeeping in the Kashmir through a military friend who served with multinational UN forces. But you won't need any special background to join the UNA-USA, as long as you have a deep and abiding interest in improving the global human condition. The Mid-Missouri Chapter seeks involvement not only at the university level but also with local high schools. For students (including graduate students) interested in joining the Mid-Missouri Chapter of the UNA-USA, membership is only $10 a year. For more information about the Mid-Missouri chapter, please contact Mr. Kangmo Lim at kltwb@missouri.edu. For more information about the UNA-USA, its humanitarian work, educational campaigns, and its history, please go to http://www.unausa.org. To learn more about Millennium Development Goals, go to the United Nations' MDG website at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.
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