San Francisco
HMC-SF 2009 will take place from Friday, January 23, 2009 to Monday, January 26, 2009 at Hotel 480 in San Francisco, CA.
**Please note the date change.
Registration for Harvard Model Congress San Francisco has closed. Please use the "Contact Us" page to contact Faculty Liaison Heather Phipps if you are still interested in attending!
About HMCSF
Located in the heart of one of the most beautiful cities in America, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco has long carried a proud tradition of teaching youths about the intricacies of American government through hands on simulations and debate. Now entering into its 11th year, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco promises to continue its long trend of excellence while introducing innovations that seek to add even greater accuracy and realism to the simulation of American government.
This year will see the implementation of several new innovations to the HMC structure. In the past, the conference has simulated the passage of four days of United States government in real time, culminating in the president signing or vetoing bills at the final meeting. While this model quite aptly provided a great teaching structure for debating bills and learning about the governmental processes, we found that it fell short in providing the representatives with feedback and a sense of interactivity with the other governmental bodies.
Therefore the real time structure will be replaced with a model that instead looks at 4 individual days separated by 3 months each. This extra 9 months of conference time will allow students to see the impact of the bills they create, deal with crises that develop over a longer time and more accurately reflect the true issues ailing the nation, and deal with changes in public opinion. Another aim of this initiative is to increase integration among the various committees in the conference. For example, a member of the executive branch would have a great incentive to lobby for decreased wiretapping restrictions in a House committee discussing electronic surveillance because the executive branch could have its powers weakened or emboldened in the following day of the conference if a bill is passed.
Likewise, San Francisco will see the addition of two new committees this year to the conference. The first is the Council of Economic Advisors, which will discuss various economic problems and provide recommendations to the executive branch as well as addressing economic issues that might arise from events that take place within the conference. The second organization is the CIA, which will covertly address international issues through analyzing information and imagining issues from the perspectives of foreign nationals.
