YMBETIN HOUSE

Every history has voices waiting

A student-founded global humanities nonprofit preserving the oral histories that traditional records leave out.

UNSPOKEN NARRATIVES · SELECTED FOR THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COLLECTIONS

A Growing Global Archive

Stories preserved across borders

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Classical philology and living memory

Sophie Kehan Chen is a researcher, writer, and documentary filmmaker whose work bridges classical philology, oral history, and community-based storytelling. She founded Ymbetin House and the Global Narrative Initiative to preserve the voices that traditional archives leave out.

Global Narrative Initiative

International Chapter Network

Start a Chapter in Your City

Somewhere near you, a story is disappearing because no one has written it down. GNI is looking for the students who refuse to let that happen, who listen for what isn't being said, and who are ready to build something that outlasts them.

Our global chapters span the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Ghana, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Dubai. Scholars work locally to find overlooked voices and bring them into one shared archive.

Publications & Open Archive

From a published anthology selected for the Library of Congress General Collections to open grassroots submissions, we bring overlooked human histories into the public record.

Unspoken Narratives

Our inaugural volume compiles unrecorded oral accounts and personal histories across global communities.

Add Your Voice

Help us preserve what history forgot. We accept oral accounts in any language, with full anonymous options available/

Selected for the Library of Congress Permanent Collections

Selected stories will be published in our next volume

GNI in Communities

Across communities, we work with students, storytellers, and local chapter leaders to collect and share personal histories. At community gatherings, conferences, and festivals, we introduce GNI, and listen to what people want to share.

Through these collaborations, stories become part of a shared archive and reach readers beyond the places where they began.

We continue this work in person and online, welcoming people who want to help document the histories of their communities.