Elena Lesley, PhD

Elena Lesley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Her research focuses on medical and psychological anthropology, with a particular emphasis on mental health issues in post-conflict populations. Dr. Lesley's first academic monograph, which examines transitional justice-linked psychotherapy for survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, is scheduled to be published by Cornell University Press in Spring 2027. Her work has also appeared in a number of peer-reviewed journals, such as Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Social Science and Medicine - Mental Health, Global Studies Quarterly, Medicine Anthropology Theory, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Memory Studies, Ethos, Ethnos and Genocide Studies and Prevention.

 

She has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Khmer Studies, the Association for Asian Studies, the Foundation for Psychocultural Research, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation), the Blakemore Foundation, the Wenner Gren Foundation, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, the Institute of International Education (Fulbright), and the Henry Luce Foundation, among others. Before coming to USF, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University in the Science, Technology and International Affairs program. Dr. Lesley received her PhD from Emory University, M.S. from Rutgers University and B.A. from Brown University. She has also worked as a professional journalist (including at the Tampa Bay Times) and as a Senior Research Specialist at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.