This week at NYU Shanghai many different events occurred on campus. A group of students hosted the university’s first ever Model United Nations conference, and the week marked the start of both Ally Week and TEDxNYU Shanghai.

NYU Shanghai students have been trying to host an MUN conference since last year’s graduating class were sophomores. They finally saw all their hard work come to life on Nov. 4 and 5. Over 60 students from 10 different high schools gathered at NYU Shanghai for a weekend of United Nations-style debate. With a UN Environmental Assembly committee, FinTech committee and a North Korean crisis committee, students were kept busy with much to talk about. The conference was sponsored externally by Chinese companies Hua Xia Finance, V Credit and UCB.

A NYU Shanghai favorite event, Ally Week, took place this past week. Ally Week is a week of events organized by student and staff to promote the awareness and understanding of societal issues such as sexuality and race. This year’s theme “Show your Glow” featured mixed gender sporting events, complete with cheerleaders, film screenings, panel discussions about micro aggressions and a closing show with performances by NYU Shanghai students.

This weekend, NYU Shanghai hosted its second TEDx conference. TEDx is a series started by the larger organizing group TED that allows independent institutions to host their own TED conferences. This year’s conference, entitled ENCOUNTER, featured multiple speakers, including Brian Cosby, Creative Director at Marvel Entertainment, Ping Zhou, President of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Diane Yu, former Deputy President of New York University and a slew of NYU Shanghai professors and deans.