Carolina International Relations Association (CIRA) is a student organization affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill. It is focused on international affairs along with hosting and competing at collegiate-level model United Nations conferences. The CIRA’s website describes their mission as the following: “CIRA is devoted to fostering critical thought, discussion, and debate on current international issues, stimulating creative and effective responses to them, developing the analytical, communicational, and team building skills of its members and the broader university community.”

There are six branches of the club: UNCMUNC (University of North Carolina Model United Nations Conference), MUNCH (Model United Nations at Chapel Hill), Travel Team, General Body, The Internationalist and Campus Affairs. 

UNCMUNC and MUNCH are the two conferences held by CIRA throughout the academic school year. UNCMUNC hosts other colleges and universities from around the country to compete in crisis-style model United Nations committees. In 2019, UNCMUNC was held from Nov. 7-11. 

MUNCH is a high school level conference that hosts high schoolers from the southeast. It has both crisis-style committees and general assembly committees. In 2020, MUNCH was held from Feb. 20-23. 

The Travel Team branch of CIRA competes at eight collegiate-level model United Nations conferences in North America throughout the academic year. It is led by two Head Delegates that train the team and accompany them in their travels. The Travel Team participates in both crisis simulations and general assemblies.  

The Internationalist is CIRA’s in-house research journal. The student-run journal is published twice a year, and focuses on undergraduate research regarding global affairs and current events, but is open to publishing research from a wide range of topics. CIRA encourages students to submit their work to The Internationalist on their website.

The purpose of CIRA’s Campus Affairs branch is to connect with UNC-CH’s community as a whole. They aim to spread and promote CIRA’s broader goals of raising awareness about international crises, and connecting with other student body organizations. Campus Affairs does this by reaching out to undergraduate students and sharing information via publications, presentations, workshops and professional speakers. Campus Affairs also provides a newsletter for those who are interested in knowing more about their events. You can sign up for the newsletter on their website.

(Photo from Carolina International Relations Association Facebook)