Dr. Julie Ficarra is a Senior Lecturer at Cornell University’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, where her work explores the politics and ethics of cross-border movement. She studies how mobility policies related to higher education, forced displacement, and global tourism shape power, equity, development and local impact. Her research and teaching bridges critical theory with applied practice to advance more ethical and equitable global exchange. She directs several exchange programs through collaborative online international learning (COIL) and community engaged learning (CEL) methodologies with partners in New York State and around the world. She has conducted field research in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Italy, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Prior to joining the Cornell faculty in 2021, Dr. Ficarra worked in international education administration at several U.S. universities as well as in federal government; serving as an Una Chapman Cox Fellow at the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and then the U.S. Embassy in eSwatini.

She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations of Education from Syracuse University and an Ed.M in International Education Policy from Harvard University.