Harvard Model Congress

Harvard Model Congress
Abbreviation	HMC
Formation	1986
Type	NGO
Purpose	Education
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts;
Official language	English
Presidents	Will Matheson (Boston); Aidan Keenan (Boston); Jessie Rodriguez (Europe) ; Trisha Prabhu (San Francisco); K. Taylor Whitsell (Asia) ; Claira Janover (Middle East)
Main organ	Executive Board
Staff	175
Website	www.harvardmodelcongress.org

Harvard Model Congress (HMC) is the largest congressional simulation conference in the world, providing high school students from across the United States and abroad with an opportunity to experience American government firsthand. Although HMC is run entirely by Harvard undergraduates, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is operated independently of the university.

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 delegates descend into Boston to tackle the most pressing and important issues facing the nation as they assume roles in each of the three branches of the United States government and beyond. Exciting and diverse programs, ranging from committees in the House of Representatives, Senate, and Supreme Court, to special programs such as press, lobbyists, and the National Security Council, help bring American government to life and have established Harvard Model Congress Boston as one of the nation's premier American government simulation programs.

Founded in 2001, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco is an American government simulation program based on the successful Boston model and the first conference of its type on the West Coast. Over 300 delegates from across the country travel to HMCSF to learn about American government. 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. The conference was originally located in San Diego and subsequently moved to San Francisco, where it continues today.

International Conferences

Harvard Model Congress Dubai was founded in 2013. This conference has a strong focus on presenting Congressional and international committees for a diverse set of international students. Harvard Model Congress Dubai 2013 took place at the American University in Dubai, UAE from January 24–26. It had the pleasure of hosting over 300 students from 11 different countries in its inaugural 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. Despite its size, HMC Asia boasts the lowest student-to-staff ratio of any of the model congress conferences. 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.

Harvard Model Congress Europe was founded in 1987 and holds an annual conference in mid-March. Although it maintains a strong tradition of American government simulation with six congressional committees and several US government special programs like the Supreme Court, HMC Europe also has a strong focus on institutions of international governance, including (among others) the World Health Organization, Group of 24, and European Commission. HMC Europe has hosted an average of over 500 delegates from countries across Europe and the world over the past two years. The 2020 conference was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Harvard Model Congress Latin America was founded in 2014, holding an annual conference near the end of August. The first HMC Latin America will take place in São Paulo, Brazil from August 21–24 at Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo. Although it maintains a strong tradition of American government simulation, 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)
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

Harvard Model Congress Asia History

Session	Year	Location
Session	Year	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	TBA	TBA	K. Taylor Whitsell

Harvard Model Congress Europe History

Session	Year	Location
Session	Year	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

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

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	2021	Claira Janover

Harvard Model Congress Latin America History

Session	Year	Location
Session	Year	City	Country	President
1	2014	São Paulo	Brazil	Enzo Vasquez
2	2015	São Paulo	Brazil	Oksana Moscoso
3	2016	São Paulo	Brazil	Rebecca Ramos
4	2017	São Paulo	Brazil	Andrew Wilcox
5	2018	Mexico City	Mexico	Jocelyn Hernandez

Logistics

Harvard Model Congress strives to prepare the next generation of democratic leaders and global citizens. Because of their sheer size, the Harvard Model Congress conferences require a large amount of planning by the students hosting the events. 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.

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External links

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