Christine Marsico, a BU Wheelock doctoral student in counseling psychology and a Glenn Research Fellow, has been selected for the 2020 cohort of the Pardee Center Graduate Summer Fellows.

Marsico’s research focuses on systems impacting immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and the major gaps in knowledge about immigration-based bullying and harassment among youth. Marsico will use survey data from 5,000+ high school students in New England to explore the frequency and impacts of immigration-based harassment and bullying. She will also assess associations between exposure and well-being and educational functioning.

“It is critical to understand the nature of immigration-based bullying and harassment in schools,” says Marsico. “This will motivate and inform school practices and interventions that promote the safety of all students.”

The Pardee Center Graduate Summer Fellows Program offers graduate students from across Boston University an opportunity for intensive interdisciplinary research and writing on topics aligned with the future-focused research interests of BU’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Pardee Center conducts interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, and future-oriented research that can contribute to long-term improvements in the human condition.

In addition to the work she will be doing, Marsico is excited by the interdisciplinary nature of the Pardee Fellowship. “Engaging with fellows from a diverse range of disciplines will provide new lenses for examining my research questions, and enhance the depth of my work,” she says. “I’m looking forward to the collective learning opportunities that this experience will provide.”

At BU Wheelock, Marsico works in the Social Adjustment & Bullying Prevention Lab. She is interested in improving counseling services for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers while also examining the nature and prevention of discrimination and identity-based bullying and harassment.