Information for 
K-12 Teachers & Students
High School Model European Union Conference
The High School Model European Union is an annual event for regional high school students. The main purpose of the Model EU is to give high school students the chance to learn about the workings of the European Union through a hands-on simulation. Playing the roles of presidents and prime ministers along with the Commission President and foreign ministers, the students spend one day engaged in intense negotiations over conflicting visions of the future of the EU. The objective is to simulate a specific European Council meeting, typically one that took place within the last two years. The Model EU should not be thought of merely as a historical simulation that replicates the outcome of the actual event; rather, students are encouraged to devise a possible alternative solution based on the same initial conditions and constraints. Model European Union enhances students’ understanding of classroom learning and gives them a real sense of the challenges involved in the decision-making process of the European Union.
The High School Model European Union is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh’s European Studies Center/European Union Center of Excellence and in part by the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Russian and East European Studies, under the supervision of Dr. Alberta Sbragia, Director and Professor of Political Science.
2008 Model European Union, December 2008
Over 65 students from seven different high schools will meet at the University of Pittsburgh on December 8, 2008 for the fourth annual high school Model European Union Conference. Participating schools are: Burrell, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Riverview, South Side Beaver, and Trinity. This year’s simulation is a re-enactment of the May 2007 EU-Russia Summit meeting which took place during the German Presidency. For additional details, please see the links to the Invitation Letter and this year’s Agenda.
Past simulations
2007 Model European Union
Invitation Letter
Links for General Information on the EU
Research Aids
For more information, contact:
Sandra Hall
Outreach Administrator
4200 Posvar Hall
University of Pittsburgh
412-383-7694
ssh13@pitt.edu
