Higher Education Simulation Programs

Update: New Contact Information for ICONS Main Office

The New Year brings a new office building and email address for the ICONS Project! Our new contact information is available here.

Online "Border Dispute: The Temple of Preah Vihear" Simulation Released

Perfect for teaching about political geography, negotiation, or international conflict! ICONS' newest single-class simulation, "Border Dispute: The Temple of Preah Vihear", places students in the middle of a long-standing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia over a sacred Buddhist temple site on the Thai-Cambodian border. With so much at stake -- culturally, economically, and politically -- participants must determine how to negotiate an agreement over the territory around Preah Vihear. This simulation is also the first to include a new element in the ICONSnet online simulation platform, "Alerts", designed to provide real-time announcements of specific simulation events. Visit our catalog to request a free scenario excerpt and read more about this exciting new simulation.

Registration Open for Spring 2012 International System Simulation

The dates are set for the Spring 2012 International System simulation! Registration is now available online. The International System simulation will run from April 5th through April 27th, 2012. This multi-school online exercise is designed to immerse students in international negotiations. Teams of students, cast as diplomats from an assortment of countries, will meet online over a three-week period to negotiate and develop plans to address pressing international issues.

Ready to register? Register online now! For more information, visit the online catalog or contact ICONS staff at 301-405-4172 or icons@umd.edu.

Instructor Tools: Resources for Teaching with Simulations

How can we maximize student learning through simulations? Are simulations an effective teaching tool in language learning courses? What factors contribute to higher levels of student engagement in online simulations? Visit the Simulation Research page of our website for answers to these questions and more, or check out Simulation Stories for first-hand accounts of how teachers have incorporated simulations into their courses.

ICONS Launches "Piracy off the Somali Coast" Simulation

The ICONS Project is pleased to announce the release of "Piracy off the Somali Coast", a new online role-play simulation addressing the mounting economic and security problems posed by piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. This negotiation simulation features eight roles ranging from a coalition of pirate bosses to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. Challenge your students to take on the root causes of this pressing international problem! To learn more or request a free scenario excerpt, visit our catalog.

Now Available: International Negotiation in a Complex World

ICONS is pleased to announce the release of the third edition of International Negotiation in a Complex World. Written by Brigid Starkey, Mark Boyer, and Jonathan Wilkenfeld, this book offers a solid introduction to the complicated arena of international negotiation. A game-board analogy provides the framework for examining international negotiation through a series of case studies. The three authors also have significant experience with ICONS simulations and feature an overview of ICONS in the text's appendix.

Simulation Discount -- ICONS has partnered with the book's publisher, Rowman & Littlefield, to offer a simulation discount to professors using International Negotiation in a Complex World with their courses. For more information, visit the book's companion website at www.icons.umd.edu/negotiating and click on "Order".