In the United States, ISIS is housed at Portland State University , which provides transcripting for all of its educational programs. During the Fall, Winter and Spring terms, ISIS offers a program of Continuing Orientation which includes a series of elective talks and neighborhood history walks given weekly and coordinated by ISIS faculty. The aim of these optional meetings is to enrich students' stay by discussing cultural adaptation and touring routes of different neighborhoods to point out not only landmarks of historic and cultural significance but also places to go to participate more with the local culture. Accommodation in Barcelona For students to experience a greater immersion into the local culture, ISIS provides housing with Spanish families. Families are carefully selected by interview, and ISIS works with both students and families to provide support and advice in cultural adjustment.
All families are central located within convenient distance of the program premises.
Two meals per day are included as part of the program. Architecture Program Coordinator Suzanne Strum is an American architect and doctoral candidate at the Escola d'Arquitectura de Barcelona . In 1999 she received a Masters of Metropolis degree from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya UPC . In 1984 she was awarded a masters degree in Architecture from Columbia University School of Architecture and Planning in New York, where she won an NEA award for Excellence in Design. She has collaborated as an architect and urban designer in offices in New York and Barcelona, participated in many international design competitions and is currently a partner in Estudio Demos, design studio.