The recent Thanksgiving celebration at IHAA drew a wonderful crowd of international residents, students and scholars from campus, board members, alumni, and many members of the general community who came especially to meet the residents. Thanksgiving is popular among our foreign visitors who learn about American customs by experiencing their first Thanksgiving.

Traditional foods, like pumpkin pie, are often taken for granted by we Americans. But when Americans see their holiday through the eyes of another, they appreciate their festival that much more. Certainly,Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday experience that gratitude.

Thanks to the many volunteers who prepared or bought food for the feast and to all those who helped set up for this successful, annual event.

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Close to a hundred party goers learned about India’s festival of light at International House Ann Arbor. People from all over the world (including India) came to celebrate and experience the culture of India. There were strobe lights, lanterns, and delicious traditional foods prepared by two IHAA alumni, Prathamesh Datar and Harsha Gowda, volunteer Maham Kahn, and IHAA staff, Janelle Fosler and intern, Genna Miller.

It is one thing to learn about a particular culture or country’s holidays. It is another to experience it with people who identify with that culture or who come from that country.

Sharing the experience can make us feel that much more connected with people around the world. Earth can feel like home and we can rejoice in all the different lights together.

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I-House Ann Arbor makes it possible for visiting international students/scholars and local community members to come together and learn about each other, widen their worldviews, and build a global culture of appreciation and understanding for each other’s histories and genuine caring for our common future. At IHAA, one meal can make a splash and ripple around the world.

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Globalization transforms our social reality, challenging us to adapt, influence, and create solutions to our world’s pressing problems. Taking the time to engage in global understanding, to build the experiences required to develop the kind of knowing we need, is critical to our intercultural evolution.

The Global Engagement for Understanding Program offers four main themes of engagement to help us evolve interculturally: Culture & Spirituality, Leadership & Service, Community & Politics, and Justice & Peace.  As I-House residents, UM international students, and Washtenaw County residents take part in our programs, the level of intercultural effectiveness rises, producing positive outcomes for humanity’s evolution. Join us.

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Ecumenical Center & International Residence (ECIR), a professional nonprofit organization running residential, educational, and social programs is now International House Ann Arbor (IHAA).  We continue to be home to international and national students studying at the University of Michigan and other universities in the area. Since 1888, IHAA has welcomed thousands of students from different countries in an intentional living-learning community to foster intercultural respect.

The GEU: Global Engagement for Understanding Program at IHAA supports the vision of a global community with a deeper understanding of our rich understory of cultural interconnections. GEU programs include speaker series, arts programs, films and documentaries, networking opportunities, social gatherings, community meals, and much more. We welcome members of the local community of Washtenaw County as well as IHAA Alumni.

Lessons learned from a successful micro-international living-learning community are too important not to be shared. Increased intercultural awareness, expanded worldviews, and practice in servant leadership are just some of the benefits gained by  participating in GEU programs. Welcome aboard!

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“I loved the GEU program on Indians in Boarding Schools!” – IHAA Alumna 

At I-House Ann Arbor we like to say, “Our context is Global. Our method is Engagement. Our goal is Understanding.”  With our vision of a global community that strives for a deeper understanding of our interconnections, the GEU Program kicked-off with themes of Tribal Justice and Indigenous Knowing.

International students and local community members participated in a symposium with an Indian Chief/police officer and U.S. county court judge. They watched an award-winning film on tribal approaches to justice especially in family law. Students attended social events with Michigan’s indigenous tribes. Over twenty participants joined in a guided tour of cultural heritage sites at a Native American Reservation. 

These opportunities gave participants a deeper understanding of the issues facing Indigenous People, of how those issues came about, their devastating consequences, and what is being done, can be done, and must be done to repair and heal our world. As GEU participants carry this experience with them into their future, they will influence and impact the social decisions of our global community with a caring consciousness.

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