Interest Houses provide an opportunity for groups of students to live together for the purpose of exploring a common theme or connection. The group defines goals and objectives, and members of the group agree to work toward achieving the stated goals.
Some Interest Houses are operated with collaboration from a College office. These houses work closely to fulfill not only the mission of the house but also the values of the office they work with.
Fall 2024 Interest House Timeline
Wednesday, February 28 – Applications Available
Thursday, March 28 – Applications Close
Monday, April 8 – Initial Offers to Students
CANOE
CANOE House is a nature-oriented interest house built on a love of communal living. As a member of our 16-person household, residents will cook and clean as a community. CANOE house is dedicated to creating a space that is open and welcoming to people of all identities and backgrounds, and to anyone vaguely-to-very interested in nature, flora, fauna, the environment, or just hanging out outside. CANOE house is connected to CANOE club, but participation in one community is not contingent on the other.
CHAI House
The Cultural House for Asian Identities (CHAI) is a community of students who live together and is designed to serve the multitude of Asian-identifying communities at Carleton College. CHAI strives to provide support and foster community for students who hold identities they feel resonate with the house name, and/or students who are passionate about advocating and educating around issues and topics connected to the identities of the House. House residents will foster belonging, build community, support student success, and raise awareness of issues related to the identities of the House – these programs are open to the entire campus community. Visit OIL’s site to learn more about Cultural House Communities at Carleton.
Culinary Interest House
The members of Culinary House strive to have a pleasant community living environment focused around the preparation and enjoyment of good food. Members explore various culinary genres and traditions. Culinary Interest House is a resource for culinary learning and experience.
Farm & Parr Sustainable Living House
Farm House fosters awareness and appreciation of sustainable agriculture and sustainable living. Members plant and tend an organic garden, offer educational programs focusing on sustainable living, and host communal dinners.
F.I.S.H. House
F.I.S.H. House is a place in which residents grow spiritually in their walk with God with the encouragement of the other members of the community. FISH is a wonderful community of Carls who are either Christians themselves or are curious and respectful of Christianity. It is a place of faith, devotion, acceptance, openness, community, and fun.
It is a community fortified with love, compassion and tolerance that a Christ-like attitude engenders–tolerance for both differences within the Christian faith and for beliefs outside of the Christian faith. It is a place where residents challenge each other with new ideas and new interpretations of old truths. It is a place to share the Christian faith by living the Christian faith. FISH house is connected to the Office of the Chaplain and receives programmatic and pastoral support from the Associate Chaplain for Christian and Interfaith Life. Participation in Chapel-sponsored events is encouraged but not required.
Freedom House
Freedom House is a community of students who live together and is designed to serve the African American and the many African Diaspora communities at Carleton College. Freedom House strives to provide support and foster community for students who hold identities they feel resonate with the house name, and/or students who are passionate about advocating and educating around issues and topics connected to the identities of the House. House residents will foster belonging, build community, support student success, and raise awareness of issues related to the identities of the House – these programs are open to the entire campus community. Visit OIL’s site to learn more about Cultural House Communities at Carleton.
Indigenous Interest House
The Indigenous Interest House is a community of students who live together and is designed to serve the Indigenous communities at Carleton College. The Indigenous Interest House strives to provide support and foster community for students who hold identities they feel resonate with the house name, and/or students who are passionate about advocating and educating around issues and topics connected to the identities of the House. House residents will foster belonging, build community, support student success, and raise awareness of issues related to the identities of the House – these programs are open to the entire campus community. Visit OIL’s site to learn more about Cultural House Communities at Carleton.
Jewish Interest House
Page East serves as Carleton’s Jewish Interest House, a center for Jewish life and culture on campus. It has space for five residents, and comfortable living spaces, and kitchen, in which to cook kosher meals and enjoy Jewish social and cultural activities. Students make Page East a welcoming place to gather on Friday nights for Shabbat services and dinners, and assure that it is a welcoming center for Jewish life, open and accessible to all members of the Carleton community.
La Casa del Sol
La Casa del Sol is a community of students who live together and is designed to serve the Hispanic and Latine communities at Carleton College. La Casa del Sol strives to provide support and foster community for students who hold identities they feel resonate with the house name, and/or students who are passionate about advocating and educating around issues and topics connected to the identities of the House. House residents will foster belonging, build community, support student success, and raise awareness of issues related to the identities of the House – these programs are open to the entire campus community. Visit OIL’s site to learn more about Cultural House Communities at Carleton.
Muslim Interest House
Muslim Interest House serves as a hub and home for Muslim life at Carleton. It provides space for Muslim social and cultural activities, halal meals, and community. Muslim Interest House also provides space for communal religious observance, such as fasting during Ramadan and daily prayer.
Muslim Interest House is open to those who are Muslim and/or who would like to learn more about Islam and who are committed to respecting the Muslim values of the house. It is a single gender space, therefore, the gender composition of the house will be decided each year based on the applicants.
QTBIPOC House (Queer and Trans* Black Indigenous People of Color)
The mission of QTBIPOC serves to provide & protect a community space that centers the intersections of race, gender and sexuality. These intersections are not limited by but include: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual, intersex, non-binary, and allied students of color at Carleton College. The house serves as a safe, inclusive living space for LGBTQIA+ students of color, and offers outreach in the form of social programming to build cohesion in the larger community of the college. These activities and dialogues are intended to promote understanding of the intersections between race, socioeconomic disparity, and LGBTQIA+ issues to affirm the needs and experiences of QTBIPOC students at Carleton. QTBIPOC House is advised by the Gender and Sexuality Center.
Rainbow House
Rainbow House community aims to be an inclusive and expansive space for LGBTQIA+ community building. Rainbow House is a space for anyone from LGBTQIA+ communities at Carleton who has an interest in living in a space that affirms each person’s unique journey with gender & sexuality and serves as a hub for broader LGBTQIA+ community engagement. Rainbow House is advised by the Gender and Sexuality Center.
Science Fiction House
The members of Science Fiction House imaginatively explore the possibilities of humanity. The house offers a variety of activities such as book discussions, craft projects and movie nights.
W.H.O.A. House
Huntington House is home to Wellstone House of Organizing and Activism (WHOA), which works to foster activism on campus and in communities outside Carleton by sponsoring discussions, dinners, and other events. WHOA is devoted to creating a space for people to come together as human beings who desire social change. Members of WHOA are committed to raising awareness on a variety of issues and serving as a hub for any and all Carleton activists