Astha Ummat is the I-House Green Fellow for 2017-2018. She’s a second year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Astha focuses on energy and resource management and came to SIPA with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a postgraduate degree in environmental and resource economics. She is on the board of two student organizations: the SIPA Energy Association and the SIPA Environmental Coalition. From 2013-2016, Astha worked on energy and climate change policy as a consultant at...

Meet Stephanie June, a recent I-House Alum originally from a small town in Germany. She’s just graduated from the acting program at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. I-House’s Salon Nights are so great. You experience so many different cultures that it’s bound to influence you. I’ve met people here at I-House who have opened my eyes to so many things. What drew you to apply to I-House? My school, the Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, told me about I-House as a great housing opportunity. I-House sounded awesome to me because it’s full of international...

Meet Madeleine Klouda. She’s a recent Alumna of International House originally from Oslo, Norway. Madeleine is a musician who found I-House to be a supportive environment for her artistic work in music composition. The wonderful musicians I have met at I-House have influenced me a lot. What brought you to I-House? Madeleine: When I was accepted to NYU, I needed a place to live. Finding a place in the City seemed incredibly difficult especially if you are international, and after spending a good amount of time searching for places, I found I-House. I immediately applied and thought it was...

The thought of moving from her small hometown of Kokshetau, Kazakhstan, to one of the biggest cities in the world was overwhelming. Aizhan Kapysheva was about to start her graduate studies at Columbia University in New York City in 2016, but she had major concerns. Like many international students coming to study in the U.S., she wondered whether she could afford to live in a city like New York. A research study conducted by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the U.S. Department of Education showed that the number of new international students attending American colleges...

When Peter Vanham was a young boy growing up in the university town of Leuven, Belgium, he dreamed of someday becoming the chief executive of one of the largest multinational organizations in the world: the Roman Catholic Church. “I actually wanted to be the Pope,” Vanham said. “He had a nice white robe and he had the Popemobile. I mean, come on. He had the Popemobile.” Although he’s since taken a different direction in life, Vanham’s childhood fascination with the papacy may have signaled one of the predominant interests of his adulthood: the careers and interior lives of chief executive...

International House Alumni joined Residents for a I-House Day New York on Friday, December 1, 2017, a festive holiday celebration that brought multiple generations of our special community together. The Main Lounge was transformed into a winter wonderland with a roaring fire, impromptu musical performances and holiday cocktails and fare celebrating a variety of international traditions. In addition to past and present Residents, several members of future I-House classes were also present to celebrate the season I-House style. Photos by Caleb Mutua, Kenya, Resident Press...