The College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences - Connecting the West with the World and Faculty with Students

New CAS Faculty: Reaching the Nation, the World, and the Universe

Karen Ruth Adams Ph.D., UC-Berkeley, Political Science

Like Reisenfeld, political science professor Karen Adams finds herself dealing with people from all over the world. Well, sort of.

Adams, who came to UM from Louisiana State University in 2004, teaches a Model United Nations class in the Department of Political Science that simulates the debates and discussions of the United Nations meetings. Through the class Adams (who also operates as UM’s faculty advisor to its Model UN team) helps facilitate the high school Model UN conference each year at the University.

“One of the main points of the class is to prepare UM students to run the high school conference in November,” said Adams. “Students in class become the officials at the conference, so there are moderators, a chairman of the Security Council, and even a secretary general.”

Fifteen different high schools from around the state bring approximately 350 students to the UM campus to participate, with each student pretending to be a diplomat from a different country during the debates and meetings. Last year’s meeting saw Hellgate High in Missoula take home the prize for Best School, something Adams attributes to the strong ties between the University and the community. “Hellgate has some very dedicated teachers, and the students have walkable access to the University.”

Adams’ college-level Model UN team has also garnered prizes, with three of its six delegates coming back from the Chicago conference with awards in April 2005. “People think Montana doesn’t have an international politics angle because we don’t have a coastline,” said Adams. “But we can know what is happening and appreciate and understand things, because international politics affects everyone.”