Dear Delegates,

Welcome to UPMUNC 58! My name is Natalia Ramos Bellido, and I’m your “Taiping Revolution” Crisis Committee Chair ! We are so excited to have you all at UPMUNC this year!!

As for this committee, it will challenge you to navigate one of the deadliest civil wars in human history: the Taiping Rebellion. This conflict not only threatened to topple the Qing dynasty, but also reshaped the future of China at a time of immense social upheaval and foreign intrusion. You will be tasked with balancing questions of legitimacy, ideology, governance, and international involvement in a nation on the brink of transformation.

In this room, you may find yourself sitting as a Qing imperial official struggling to hold together a fractured dynasty, a foreign diplomat deciding whether intervention serves your nation’s interests, or even a Taiping leader seeking to spread Hong Xiuquan’s vision of a Heavenly Kingdom. The rebellion was not just a military conflict—it was a clash of ideas, cultures, and global forces, and we encourage you to embrace that complexity as you strategize.

We hope you will approach this committee with creativity, critical thinking, and a willingness to step into the shoes of your assigned role. Whether through diplomacy, intrigue, or bold reforms, the choices you make will shape the trajectory of China and the world around it. And of course, this is a crisis—we expect the unexpected, and we want you to take full advantage of that.

Moving on from committee context to chair context, I’m a current senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing majors in both History of Art and Latin American Studies as well as a minor in Gender/Women’s Studies. As part of the International Affairs Association, I am a member of the Community and Engagement branch of the IAA and have served as Crisis Director and Staffer for the last three years. I am also currently the Co-Chair of the Penn for Immigrant Rights Club, a social activism club on campus as well as serve as part of the Undergraduate Advisory Board for the Center of Latin American and Latinx Studies. Outside of this, you can probably find me picnicking under a tree, playing Club Penguin on my Nintendo, or consuming a ridiculous amount of blackberries :)

I’m very excited to welcome you all to Philly and to our wonderful conference ! Please feel free to email me or any other staffer regarding questions about the committee or conference as a whole; see you soon !

Natalia Ramos Bellido

patulga@sas.upenn.edu