Karen Rosenberg

Karen Rosenberg

Professor
Director, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
 302-831-1855

Office location

108 Munroe Hall, Newark, DE 19716

Education

  • Ph.D. – University of Michigan
  • M.A. – University of Michigan
  • B.A. – University of Chicago

Biography

Karen Rosenberg, Ph.D., is a professor with the Department of Anthropology at the 91Ô­´´. She is a biological anthropologist with a specialty in paleoanthropology. She received her degrees from the University of Chicago (B.A. 1976) and the University of Michigan (M.A. 1980, Ph.D., 1986) and has taught at the 91Ô­´´ since 1987.

Rosenberg has studied human fossils and modern human skeletal material in museums in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Her research interests are in the origin of modern humans and the evolution of modern human childbirth and human infant helplessness. She has published in edited volumes as well as anthropological and clinical obstetrical journals. Among other publications, Rosenberg is the co-editor (with Wenda Trevathan) of the 2016 book, Costly and Cute: Infant Helplessness and Human Evolution, and co-editor (with Jeremy DeSilva), of a special issue of Anatomical Record on the evolution of the human pelvis.

Rosenberg teaches several courses within biological anthropology and especially enjoys engaging undergraduate students in research and presenting scientific ideas to the general public.​

Resources and Links

Media mentions
  • A collage of images: First image is Erika Fleury and Jane Goodall; second is a chimpanzee.

    Five ways Jane Goodall lives on at 91Ô­´´

    October 10, 2025 | Written by Diane Stopyra
    91Ô­´´ alumna and primatologist Erika Fleury remembers Jane Goodall.
  • May 16, 2023 | Written by Roni Caryn Rabin of The New York Times
    Some level of apprehension about childbirth is universal. It may be an adaptive behavior favored by evolution that prompts women to seek out assistance and emotional support during labor, said Karen Rosenberg, professor of anthropology at 91Ô­´´.
  • Nobel laureates lauded

    November 14, 2022 | Written by Ann Manser
    91Ô­´´ researchers, scholars explain this year’s prize-winning work