International House Association (IHA), a global nonprofit connecting a network of historic International Houses around the world, announced on 22 October 2025 its official launch and mission to focus on advancing peacebuilding, global citizenship and intercultural leadership.
Inspired by the pioneering spirit that led to the establishment of the historic International Houses in New York (1924), Berkeley (1930), Chicago (1932), Paris (1936), Tokyo (1952), and London (1965), we serve as conveyors, sources of analysis of current events, curators of cultural content, as educators, and as a group of global institutions committed to furthering understanding across the broad set of communities we serve.
Rooted in a legacy that began in 1924 with the founding of International House New York and formally organized with Rockefeller support in 1939, the Association has relaunched to meet the demands of a more divided, globalized and complex world. The revitalized IHA builds on a century of fostering successful cross-cultural understanding through intentional living, learning and engagement. The goal is to foster a global community committed to peace through cultural exchange, open discourse, and intellectual collaboration. Its member Houses serve as incubators of dialogue and leadership in major academic and metropolitan centers worldwide.
International Houses typically are based on a major university campus. They were designed as a way for international students to connect with local peers. For the last hundred years, they have been doing just that. Read the history of the project here.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 