Caitlin Rosenthal

I am a business historian focused on the evolution of data practices, information technologies, and labor management. I am particularly interested in the intersections of innovation and violence, and my first book, Accounting for Slavery, explores the business history of plantation slavery in the U.S. South, Jamaica, and Barbados.

I teach history at UC Berkeley, and you can read more about my work there on my department website. My undergraduate courses explore the history of capitalism, the history of quantification, and the history of slavery. My graduate advising supports research at the intersection of labor history, business history, and economic history. I encourage students to pursue deep archival research and to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Before beginning my career as a historian, I was a business analyst and community fellow at McKinsey & Company, an experience that continues to inform my research and teaching.