Rebecca Seligman

Rebecca Seligman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University and a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. She holds a PhD from Emory University (2004) and completed a CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowship in McGill University's Psychiatry Department. Her research bridges medical anthropology, cultural neuroscience, and transcultural psychiatry.

Primary research interests include:

• Cultural influences on mental health and healing practices
• Embodiment and mind-body interactions in health contexts
• Psychophysiological mechanisms of stress and trauma
• Mental health disparities among Latin American and immigrant populations
• Diabetes management and cultural models of selfhood
• Ritual healing in Afro-Brazilian religious traditions
• Cultural neuroscience approaches to psychiatric phenomena

Her publications demonstrate consistent focus on cultural dimensions of mental and physical health, particularly examining how social disadvantage, cultural models of self, and emotional experiences manifest in conditions like PTSD, dissociation, somatization, and diabetes. Recent work emphasizes Mexican American populations and neurobiological correlates of cultural phenomena.

Honors and recognition include:

• Faculty Fellowship at Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research
• Feature of research in Discover magazine
• Research support from National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health