An assistant clinical professor and collegiate fellow in the University of Maryland Honors College, Marisa G. Franco has studied connections and relationships intensively, researching all over the world, centering and prioritizing friendship in her work, which now includes the New York Times bestseller Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make — and Keep — Friends. Drawing upon data and psychological underpinnings that gird such relationships, it is this book that will frame Franco’s presentation as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series as she shares her work on human connection and systemic loneliness.
Platonic has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “an ode to modern friendship,” and Kirkus Reviews called it “a remarkable examination of the epidemic of loneliness and sound advice for alleviating it.” Franco is a licensed counseling psychologist and a writer for Psychology Today, and her work has appeared in Psychology Today, Scientific American, Vice, The Chicago Tribune, “Good Morning America” and The New York Times. She was previously an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University.
Franco holds her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland. While a doctoral student, she won numerous research awards, including the 2013 Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award and the 2015 Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.
