Melanie Yu

Melanie Yu received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University School of Social Work program in October 2025. She also holds a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University (May 2020) and a Master of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University (May 2020). Throughout her doctoral studies, she served as the full-time director of an intensive case management program for refugees. Her direct service experience, as both a case manager and director for an intensive case management program, deeply informed her scholarly trajectory and played a critical role in shaping the focus and development of her dissertation research and academic portfolio. In this capacity, she also supervised other social work students completing their fieldwork requirements.  

Utilizing artifact elicitation and interviews with refugees and refugee-serving staff members, Mel employed a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore and understand the concept of reciprocity (giving and receiving help) within a refugee community. Her dissertation, entitled Refugee Reciprocity as a Critical Apparatus for Reimagining Resettlement Work: A Qualitative Examination of Refugee Reciprocity and Solidarity generated a working mid-range theory that illustrates how reciprocity functions and manifests in different refugee contexts. To date, she has published seven peer-review articles, including one as first author. In addition to her research, she serves as an adjunct instructor in the Rutgers University School of Social Work master’s program where she has taught Diversity and Oppression and Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants. She continues to work directly with refugee and immigrant communities through her ongoing role as director and case manager of an intensive case management program and by developing health education programming for refugee and immigrant communities.