Julia Sebastien

Julia Sebastien’s research in Cornell’s Virtual Embodiment Lab and the Social Media Lab explores how immersive technological interactions can support human growth and flourishing, with a focus on prosocial behavior and wellbeing. Her prosocial behavior research investigates barriers and facilitators to cyberbystander intervention in online harassment. Meanwhile, her wellbeing work explores immersive VR simulation designs to reduce perceptions of acute pain, promote self-transcendence, and reduce anxiety.

Julia was recently named a 2025–2026 Graduate Fellow at Cornell’s Institute for European Studies to support her ongoing involvement in the multi-institutional Casa della Regina Carolina Project, which involves the excavation and immersive digital reconstruction of an ancient Pompeiian villa for educational purposes. As a 2025–2026 Digital Storytelling Fellow, Julia will develop a digital narrative video game exploring themes of cultural identity and tolerance in the Ivy League. A passionate advocate for integrating academic research into her technology designs, she was an invited colloquium speaker on this topic for Cornell’s Department of Communication.

Julia first developed her command of evidence-based approaches to user-centered technology design during her master's at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she led the design and testing of a GenAI-powered tool promoting self-reflection and emotional intelligence that won first prize in the MIT Ignite: Generative AI Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. Julia also holds a Specialized Honors BA in Psychology from York University, where, working as lab manager in the Interpersonal Perception and Social Cognition Lab, she led studies on implicit bias and couples’ virtual communication during the pandemic. Earlier, Julia received the Double Major Gold Medal Award from Western University for her academic achievements in Media Studies and in the Arts and Humanities.