Student groups

Model United Nations Club

Model United Nations (MUN) is an academic simulation of the United Nations. The purpose is to educate students about the international community and about how the Nation States of the world interact. In MUN, students take on the role of a diplomat, and are expected to represent their nation's foreign policy on a variety of international issues. During the simulations students are expected to research and promote their nations foreign policy in an effort to reach consensus on resolutions.

Model simulations have been around even before there was a United Nations. During the 1920s students would gather together and simulate the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations. Model simulations exist for many inter-governmental organizations such as: Model European Union, Model NATO, and even a Model Parliament which simulates the Canadian Parliament!

The University of Victoria Model UN Club has been operating for almost a decade. It was starting by a group of students who were interested in learning more about the international community. Each year the UVic Model UN club has participated in the National Model United Nations conference in the New York City. UVic has represented such countries as the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, China, and most recently Saudi Arabia.

The UVic Model UN club is an entirely student run organization. We have weekly meetings where we discuss current issues as well as the various organs of the UN. We also host a conference here at the University for local high school students. Throughout the year we host many educational days as well as panel discussions for any students interested. MUN is open to all students in any program, and we welcome new members all the time!

If you are interested in our club please do not hesitate to contact us or join us for our weekly meetings.

Undergraduate Politics Society

The Undergraduates of Political Science (UPS) at UVic is a student run organization operating year round. The Society engages in a number of events throughout the academic year including games nights, mixers, pub crawls, career nights, movie nights, rooftop volleyball, debates and discussions.

The UPS acts as a liaison between students and professors and promotes the department informally throughout the campus. The organization works with the department and the UVic Students' Society to make your experience at UVic memorable.

Involvement in the UPS is a great way for undergraduate students to engage in an informal Political Science atmosphere, exchanging course secrets, swapping books, rating professors, debating the latest political events and forming lifelong friendships. Society executive are elected in April and September.

General membership is open to all students taking at least one Political Science course throughout the year. Join our Facebook group "The UPS" or visit our website - a great resource for upcoming events and important dates from the department and university.

Graduate Student Group

The Graduate Politics Students seek to promote and represent graduate students in the Department of Political Science to the Department and the wider academic communities, provide a forum for discussion of challenges and opportunities of concern to graduate political science students, and promote the work of graduate political science students through lectures, workshops and publications.

There is also an on-line graduate student journal "Peninsula: A Journal of Relational Politics". Peninsula: A Journal of Relational Politics is a journal of political theory open to a broad range of methodological, philosophical, and disciplinary perspectives. Our area of focus is politics; our approach is critical; and our perspective is relational.