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A committee presentation during the 2002-03 simulation

Inquiry, a global issues simulation program, was developed in 1991 by the EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) program at Tufts University. It is now a program of the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership. Currently in its 16th year, Inquiry provides a unique opportunity for high school students to participate in an intellectual and challenging simulation regarding pertinent international issues.

The goal of the program is to facilitate the understanding of compelling issues of global and domestic concern through investigative methods and role-playing simulations. Inquiry emphasizes preparing students for global citizenship and developing leadership skills.

EPIIC began Inquiry in response to an appeal from Boston area high school teachers. Several teachers had attended some of the EPIIC annual symposia and were interested in making issues and materials from these conferences available to their students. EPIIC developed the current Inquiry model to provide a substantive learning process both for the secondary schools as well as for the participating Tufts University students, who range from first year students to graduate students in international affairs and education.

The debate continues in between committee and delegation meetings

The annual Inquiry subject emerges from the larger, over-arching EPIIC topic. The EPIIC topic for 1996-97 was The Future of Democracy and the Inquiry program focused on Latin America. In 1998-99, the EPIIC topic was Global Crime, Corruption and Accountability and Inquiry explored these issues in Europe and the Former Soviet Union. In 2003-04, the EPIIC topic was Dilemmas of Empire and Nationbuilding: The U.S. Role in the World and Inquiry concentrated on the U.S. role in the Middle East.

EPIIC’s high school global issues simulation program will focus this year on poverty and inequality in Latin America, considered to be the world’s most unequal region.  Issues that will be discussed include urbanization and the rise of megacities, youth violence and the growing gang culture, and the implications of the rise of populist leaders in such countries as Venezuela and Bolivia.  All students in EPIIC participate in mentoring high school students and in the culminating simulation held at Tufts, April 3-6, 2008.  For those interested in working with high school students or in EPIIC’s topic but unable to commit the required time, there is a full credit, two-semester option to participate in the Inquiry Teaching Group (EXP 91AF)

In its first year, 11 schools and over 70 students from the Greater Boston area participated in the simulation. In 2004-05, there were 20 schools and more than 350 students involved from six states. Inquiry has been incorporated differently into each participating high school: the High School for Telecommunications, Arts and Technology in Brooklyn, NY has started a research course around the program; Morgan Park High School in Chicago, IL uses the program and materials in several of its history classes; at Cincinnati Country Day School in Cincinnati, OH, the faculty voted to give independent academic credit to the students; at Pace Academy in Atlanta, GA, it has become an elective within the social studies department; at Lexington High School in Lexington, MA, the program is an extra-curricular activity.

While EPIIC assumes primary responsibility for the year-long program, it works closely with teachers and administrators in developing both the simulation topic and curriculum materials. A high school curriculum guide on Secrecy and Democracy was published from the proceedings of the 1988 EPIIC symposium in conjunction with Educators for Social Responsibility.