Robert Rosenberger
Professor, Director of Graduate Studies
- Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy
Overview
Robert Rosenberger is a Professor in the School of Public Policy and is currently serving as the Director of Graduate Studies. His research in the philosophy of technology explores the habitual relationships people develop with everyday devices, with applications in design and policy. This includes lines of research into the driving impairment of smartphone usage, the educational advantages of computer-simulated frog dissection, the roles of imaging devices in scientific debates, and the critique of hostile design and architecture (especially anti-homeless design). His edited and co-eidted books include Postphenomenological Investigations: Essays on Human-Technology Relations, Postphenomenology and Imaging: How to Read Technology, The Critical Ihde, and the interview book Philosophy of Science: 5 Questions. His monographs include Callous Objects: Designs Against the Homeless, Distracted: A Philosophy of Cars and Phones, and Against Frog Dissection: The Materiality Argument.
- PhD, Stony Brook University, Philosophy
- BA, Pennsylvania State University, Double Major in Philosophy and Psychology
Distinctions:
- The 2025 Dorothy Lee Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Culture, awarded by the Media Ecology Association
- The 2023-2024 Ivan Allen College Faculty Excellence in Research Award
- The Don Ihde Distinguished Alumni Award, Stony Brook University, 2023
Interests
- Economic Development and Smart Cities
- Ethics and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Courses
- HTS-6743: STS Core Seminar
- LMC-6743: STS Core Seminar
- LMC-6748: Social Justice & Design
- LMC-6749: Feminist Theory and STS
- PHIL-3109: Engineering Ethics
- PHIL-3115: Philosophy of Science
- PHIL-3127: Sci, Tech & Human Values
- PHIL-3135: Philosophy of Technology
- PST-3109: Ethics&Tech Profession
- PST-3115: Philosophy of Science
- PST-4803: Special Topics
- PUBP-4843: Special Topics
- PUBP-6415: Tech Regions & Policy
- PUBP-6743: STS Core Seminar
- PUBP-6748: Social Justice & Design
- PUBP-6749: Feminist Theory STS
- PUBP-8802: Special Topics
- PUBP-8803: Special Topics
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
- Against Frog Dissection: The Materiality Argument
Date: February 2026
- Distracted: A Philosophy of Cars and Phones
Date: June 2024
- Callous Objects: Designs Against the Homeless
Date: 2017
All Publications
Books
- Against Frog Dissection: The Materiality Argument
Date: February 2026
- Distracted: A Philosophy of Cars and Phones
Date: June 2024
- Callous Objects: Designs Against the Homeless
Date: 2017
Book - Editors
- The Critical Ihde
Date: 2023
A curated selection of the the works of Don Ihde.
- Postphenomenology and Imaging: How to Read Technology, co-edited with Samantha J. Fried
Date: July 2021
- Postphenomenological Investigations: Essays on Human-Technology Relations, co-edited with P.-P. Verbeek.
Date: 2015
- Philosophy of Science: 5 Questions
Date: November 2010
Journal Articles
- A Classification Scheme for Hostile Design
In: Philosophy of the City Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2023
- Backing Up Into Advocacy: The Case of Smartphone Driver Distraction
In: The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- On Hostile Design: Theoretical and Empirical Prospects
In: Urban Studies 57(4) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- “On the Hermeneutics of Everyday Things: Or, The Philosophy of Fire Hydrants.”
In: AI & Society. 32: 233-241. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2017
Chapters
- “On the Immersion of E-Reading (Or Lack Thereof).”
In: Postphenomenology and Media, G. Wellner, Y. Van Den Eede, and S. Irwin (eds.)
Date: June 2017
- “Phenomenological Approaches to Technological Ethics.”
In: The Ethics of Technology: Methods and Approaches, S. O. Hansson (ed.)
Date: March 2017
Updated: Feb 14th, 2026 at 2:29 PM