Special Interest Housing

To learn about the houses, you can view their websites, contact us, or contact the advisor(s) listed under each house. Houses are listed in alphabetical order. The below information on locations for current theme and special interest communities is subject to change.

Anthony House

Mission: We are a creative food and labor communal co-op cultivating a space of action. We encourage creative, personal, and social growth and support. Crafts House has long been devoted to providing a support system for those who feel a lack of support or acceptance elsewhere at Tufts. We make communal, dietary sensitive meals most times a week, and equitably share resources and labor. Under normal circumstances we run the Crafts Center – which started in the basement of the house – where artistic skills and supplies are shared.

Vision: We strive to create an actively anti-racist and anti-bias space, in which activism and cultural exploration is incorporated into events and day to day experience. We hope to create a stronger presence in the Tufts community and beyond.

Interim Contact: Thomas Wlodek

Asian American House

Mission: The Asian American House provides a safe space for students of Asian or Asian American descent in a predominantly white institution. Residents of the unit organize activities related to the Asian American experience. Past activities have included an art exhibit, food fair, informal afternoon gatherings with faculty, and discussions on Asian American issues and topics.

Contact: Aaron Parayno

Bartol House

Mission: The overall space we strive to create at Arts Haus is one that inspires each resident to come together to create a strong and supportive hub of creative folks. While Arts Haus has typically engaged the broader Tufts community by hosting events such as costume parties and live-music shows, COVID restrictions have drastically limited the scope of what we can do. In spite of unprecedented challenges, residents continue to build a caring environment where we prioritize taking care of one another while finding ways to have fun safely. Programs in Fall 2020 has included painting nights, movie viewings, Fall pumpkin painting, a murder mystery program on Halloween, and even just simply studying together. At the core of Arts Haus is to provide a home to uplift each other in ways meaningful to us – by artists, for artists.

Vision: COVID has deeply changed the ways in which residents at Arts Haus interact with one another. The pandemic has challenged us in reevaluating what it means to support each other and strengthen our community with meaningful experiences both difficult and joyous. Moving forward, I envision Arts Haus to continue being a home for artists to feel secure in expressing ourselves. When it becomes safer to do so, we hope to slowly begin to host events that invite other Tufts students into our space to enrich the community with funky fun, artsy excitement, and happy memories.

Contact: Angy Sosa

Capen House

Mission: Capen House creates an environment for residents of the house to grow as individuals and as a group. Residents expand their knowledge of Blackness and the world around them through sharing experiences, cultivating conversations, and attending programming that amplifies their abilities and themselves.

Vision: To have strong bonds between residents that can lead into long-lasting connections; connections that stand the test of time and prove that Black People can continue to achieve meaningful dreams by coming together and being present in their lives

Contact: Katrina Moore and Kella Merlain-Moffatt

Chandler House

Mission: The Spanish Language House collaborates with the Spanish Program allows residents to develop greater fluency in Spanish and enhance their understanding of Spanish & Latin American countries, lifestyles, and cultures. Residents hold bi-weekly events where members of the Tufts community can stop by and enjoy refreshments and conversation. Rising senior and juniors will have priority during the selection process as well as prioritization for the single rooms within the house.

Vision: To practice the Spanish language and to expose residents to the cultures of various Spanish-speaking countries.

Members of the Spanish House have the opportunity to improve their practical, conversational Spanish daily. Residents should expect to communicate nearly exclusively in Spanish with their housemates and any other visiting Spanish speakers, at least when in the house. Applicants who are actively learning Spanish (non-native speaker, not fluent, etc.) should be ready to communicate in a second language at home, and excited to take on the challenge. Besides house residents who speak Spanish as a first language (primarily exchange students living in the house), we are all learning Spanish, and we are not shy to make mistakes and ask for help with a word or conjugation.

Contact: Isabel Castro Escudero

Chinese Language & Culture House

The Chinese Language & Culture House in collaboration with the Chinese Language Program is a language-based environment outside the classroom that promotes and facilitates language learning, cross-cultural exchange, and understanding within the larger community at Tufts.

Contact: Shaomei Wang

Davies House

Mission: Davies House, better known as International House (or "I-House") is a Tufts residence for 16 students from all over the world, including the US. The I-House offers an intercultural living arrangement for both international and domestic students with the goal of creating an environment in which residents can share their cultures and celebrate their differences among friends.

Vision: The vision of the International House is to promote unity and harmony among students from all of the world. We seek to create an equitable space for all of us to celebrate our own cultures and personalities, and we hope to serve as a beacon of hope, unity, and internationalism to the rest of the Tufts community.

Contact: Lizzie Siegle and Sophia Alfred

Ethnomusic House

Contact: Stephan Pennington

FIRST House

Mission: The FIRST House provides a safe and welcoming space for students who are First Generation, Low-Income, or have Undocumented Status. We strive to continually cultivate a deep understanding and connection amongst members of our community.

Vision: We hope to continually support, uplift, and encourage each other as we create a space to celebrate the unique experiences of students within our community.

Contact: Daniela Pozos-Nicolau

Hall House

Mission: Hall House, also known as the Bayit or The Jewish Culture House, provides a setting where students can live and develop in a Jewish communal atmosphere. Residents sponsor programs aimed at informing the community about Jewish issues and culture. The residents also maintain a kosher kitchen

Vision: The Jewish Cultural House (or “the Bayit”) is a non-denominational Jewish communal space on Tufts campus led with the values of its residents and community.

Contact: Rabbi Dr. Naftali Brawer and Perry Doherty

Japanese Language House

Mission: The Japanese Language House aims to provide an interactive communal space with a vibrant Japanese language and cultural atmosphere.

Vision: Residents are able to practice speaking Japanese and gain an inclusive cultural experience with a close-knit community.

The Japanese Language House provides residents with an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the Japanese language and culture in collaboration with the Japanese Program. The residents gather bi-weekly for dinner and weekly for language “chats,” and celebrate Japanese holidays and cultural events.

Contact: Shiori Koizumi

Milne House

La Casa Latina provides a support system to the Latinx community at Tufts, welcoming students interested in the Latinx culture, and Latinx issues. In conjunction with the Latinx Center, residents sponsor activities and events to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Latinx culture.

Contact: Marvin Casasola

Muslim House ("M House")

Mission: The Muslim House, or colloquially M House, offers any resident the opportunity to live in a uniquely Muslim environment.Residents are able to enhance a cultural experience and expand their knowledge of Islam within a closely-knit community.

Interim Contact: Armando Martinez

Neurodivergent House (ND House)

Contact: Eileen Crehan

Q’munity House

Mission: This community provides a safe space and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ students on campus. Our mission is to maintain a friendly, non-judgmental space for members of our community to come together.

Vision: Our vision is to maintain a close community of queer students and allies for the purpose of facilitating friendship, understanding, and solidarity.

The community provides a queer–friendly atmosphere for students who are interested in issues of gender and sexuality. Residents of this space create and maintain a living space that is affirming to all sexual and gender identities. The unit brings issues of queer students to the entire Tufts community through educational, social, and community programming. 45 Sawyer also serves as a social outlet for queer students and their friends and fosters the sense of community for which Tufts has come to be known

Past events have included the Annual Halloween and Valentines Day Parties, Thanksgiving "Family" Dinner, Super Smash Brothers Tournaments, "The L Word" viewing of key episodes, Glamour Trash Oscar Party, Fall Pumpkin Carving, and a group outing to Boston University's Annual Drag Ball.

Contact: Hope Freeman

Russian/Slavic and Central Asian Culture House

The Russian/Slavic and Central Asian Culture House allows residents interested in the cultures of Russian, East-European, and post-Soviet geopolitical space to engage in cultural and language activities as a part of their everyday life. Students interested in applying do not specifically need to have taken/be taking courses in Russian language and East-European culture, but rather need to have a demonstrated interest in the field or to be of the relevant background. Everyone interested in the culture, geography, and social life of the countries of ex-USSR or eastern Europe is welcome. Knowledge of Russian or other Slavic languages is not a requirement but is recommended, since one of the goals of the unit is to provide an opportunity for Russian language practice outside the classroom.

Contact: Marina Aptekman

Schmalz House

Mission: The Schmalz House, or Francophone house, is for students interested in speaking French. The house welcomes 2 exchange students from France and 8 undergraduate students who have completed FR22 (or equivalent). The residents speak French informally, share meals, and organize 3 events per semester in cooperation with the French section of the Department of Romance Studies. The idea is to improve one’s French, to expand one’s understanding of Francophone cultures, and to have fun together!

Contact: Anne-Christine Rice

Wyeth House

Mission: Residents of Wyeth house, also known as the German House, are curious about and interested in German culture and language. Together, they create a space that facilitates awareness and understanding of everything German--both for themselves and the larger Tufts community. The German House hosts long-standing events like Kaffeestunde and Filmabend, and residents are encouraged to shape the House’s purpose and offerings by organizing cultural, academic, and/or social activities related to German culture and language, whether independently or in collaboration with other campus groups and resources. House residents have the opportunity to live alongside German exchange students, and to further deepen their understanding of German language and culture. German language experience is a plus, but not required.

Contact: Doris Pfaffinger: 617-627-2621