Over 350 high school students convened at Tufts in a symposium this weekend to discuss the future of the world's oceans.
This annual Inquiry simulation is a program facilitated by the Institute for Global Leadership that brings discussion of International Relations to high school curricula and corresponds to each year's Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) curriculum.
Previously a local event, this year's Inquiry was host to 21 high schools from six states: Massachusetts, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, New York, and New Hampshire. An observer delegation from Switzerland's Zurich International School also attended.
Students broke into committees concerning Security, the Persian Gulf, the South China Sea, Trade and Transportation, Human Impact, Resources, and Fisheries.
"It's a real mix of urban and suburban, private and public schools," Inquiry Director and Associate Director of the Institute for Global Leadership Heather Barry said.
Tufts students moderated the discussion, while students from the varied schools represented various countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States, China, and the Philippines.
"The [high school] students were incredibly enthusiastic," freshman and Inquiry moderator Jessie Berlin said.
Additional high school delegates represented special interests, including fishing industry and oil corporations, who also had a stake in the oceans debate.
After intensive discussion and debate, students were encouraged to develop resolutions and issue them as press releases that implemented new policy.
"The students took the issues seriously," Barry said. "Overall, they were well-prepared and discussed these important issues."
"[Inquiry] was more to get them having interactive dialogue over issues that having a concrete [competitive] result at the end," Berlin said.
Policy options that emerged were an international agreement to regulate deep-sea oil drilling, an international maritime anti-terrorism force, and a Global Disaster Network to help predict and minimize the damage from catastrophes such as the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia.
"I was really impressed by the kids' knowledge and their willingness to participate and come up with solutions," Kelly Douglas, a senior and moderator, said. "It was really refreshing to be on the facilitating side and hear new and creative ideas - to hear their backgrounds and what they thought was possible."
Barry said that the simulation had important interdisciplinary relevance, especially as many high schools are "moving towards more standardized curricula."
Inquiry, she said, also helps high school students realize that "if they're interested in international issues, there are other jobs out there besides doctors, lawyers, or diplomats," she said. "It also exposes them to a college, and some of the possibilities [in higher learning]."
This weekend's events marked Inquiry's 14th year. The simulation, Barry said, heightened high school teachers' desires to bring relevant international relations topics into their classrooms.
