Introduction to Contemporary Literary Theory In this course we will introduce several major schools of contemporary literary theory. By reading theoretical texts in close conjunction with works of literature, we will illuminate the ways in which these theoretical stances can produce multiple interpretations of a given literary work. The approaches covered may include New Criticism, Psychoanalysis, Marxism and Cultural Criticism, Race Theory and Multicultural Criticism, Feminism, Post-Colonial Criticism, Queer Studies, Eco-Criticism, Post-Structuralism, and others. These theories will be applied to various works of fiction, poetry, and drama. The goal will be to make students critically aware of the fundamental literary, cultural, political, and moral assumptions underlying every act of interpretation they perform.

Transforming Identities in Literature This course is designed to develop techniques for reading and writing about literary works through the lens of our chosen theme: the transformation of identities (in terms of race, class, gender, etc.) in literary works.  We will read a range of plays, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction across temporal and national boundaries, exploring the different critical methods and interpretive tools available to us.  Both the thematic and skill-building arcs of the course will culminate in a reading of Toni Morrison’s novel The Song of Solomon in the context of several different--and sometimes contradictory--critical and theoretical approaches.  Other readings will include Shakespeare’s Othello, Hwang’s M. Butterfly, essays by Virginia Woolf and Durga Chew Bose among others, and short stories by James Joyce, Margaret Atwood, and Octavia Butler.

English Literature Survey: 1800-Present This course is designed as an introductory survey of English poetry, fiction, plays, and non-fiction prose from the late 18th century to the present. We will look at literary innovations and trends as we read a broad range of texts from the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, and Contemporary eras in their social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Literature and the Visual Arts In this course, we will explore the intersection of literary texts and visual artworks. We will read literary works which respond to specific paintings and look at artworks which respond to specific literary works; we will also look at literature which strives to be visual and artworks which try to tell stories. Additionally, we will examine hybrid texts which include both words and images, such as the graphic novel, illuminated manuscripts, children's picture books, and composite/engraved poetry. Course readings will include poems, short stories, illustrated books, and graphic novels from English and American literary traditions from the 18th century through the present; visual art examples will be drawn primarily from European and American painting, sculpture, and installation art from Antiquity to the present.

Victoria's Secrets Known as the great age of the realist novel and the epitome of staid decorum, the nineteenth century also had its guilty pleasures--mysteries, ghost stories, science fiction, adventure tales, and more--which exposed a radical underside to the Victorian imagination where norms of gendered, racial, and ethnic identity were called into question. In this course we will read both canonical realist novels and their non-traditional counterparts in an attempt to understand the productive interplay between these two seemingly disparate literary traditions. Authors may include: Austen, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, the Brontës, Wilkie Collins, R.L. Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, Bram Stoker, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and others.

Victoria’s Secrets Known as the great age of the realist novel and the epitome of staid decorum, the nineteenth century also had its guilty pleasures--mysteries, ghost stories, science fiction, adventure tales, and more--which exposed a radical underside to the Victorian imagination where norms of gendered, racial, and ethnic identity were called into question. In this course we will read both canonical realist novels and their non-traditional counterparts in an attempt to understand the productive interplay between these two seemingly disparate literary traditions. Authors may include: Austen, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, the Brontës, Wilkie Collins, R.L. Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, Bram Stoker, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and others.

Literature and the Visual Arts In this course we will explore the intersections of literary texts with the visual arts. What happens when literature tries to capture in words a visual image? What happens when a picture tries to tell a story? We will examine literary texts which respond directly to specific paintings as well as texts which are more broadly visual in their impact on readers; we will also look at hybrid texts like the graphic novel which include both words and images. Course readings will include poems, short stories, short novels, illustrated books, and graphic novels. We will also look at a wide range of paintings, sculptures, and other visual artifacts.

Animals in Literature and Culture Animals, wrote anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, are good to think with. They are good to write with as well; almost all works of literature include animals, their importance varying from the merely peripheral to the absolutely central.  Among other narrative functions, animals serve as essential metaphors for understanding the human animal. In this course we will read a wide variety of fiction, poetry, children's literature, philosophy, science, history, and cultural theory from Ancient Greek sources (in translation) to the present. We will consider theoretical, ethical, religious, psychological, linguistic, and political issues pertaining to animals and their representation in literary texts. lect./disc.

Towards a Poetics of Community Why read literature? One answer: such reading is not individual but communal. It links readers to each other in aesthetic experience, in ethical and hermeneutic debate, and in appreciation for writers and fellow readers. As we read literary texts from different times, cultures, and genres, we will examine how they anticipate, create, or recreate readerly communities, and how these communities in turn help shape the texts as they are experienced. We will also strive to form our own readerly community—one that is as inclusive and as intellectually generous as possible. We will begin with close analysis of poetry in various forms from various historical periods. We will then read dramas by such playwrights as William Shakespeare, Margaret Edson, and/or Lolita Chakrabarti, as well as two works from among such prose writers as Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Marilynne Robinson, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Ian McEwan, Walter Moseley, and Jean Rhys.

Writer's Decathlon One of the best skills a writer can hope to cultivate is flexibility—the ability to write for different audiences, different situations, different media, and with different goals in mind. In this course we will develop our skills as flexible writers by tackling ten different writing exercises, including the op-ed, several sub-genres of the traditional academic paper, personal essays, creative fiction, the persuasive essay, business communications, modern tech-based genres, and more—we may even try our hand at writing an old-fashioned love letter with a quill pen. We will workshop our writings in class regularly, and examples of these various genres will be our course readings.

Antonia Losano

Reviews and ratings for Antonia Losano at Middlebury College.Antonia Losano teaches Intro:Contemporary Lit. Theory, Reading Literature, English Lit 1800-Present and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Antonia Losano good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I would 100% take this course again. Professor Losano is very passionate about literature and offers students the capacity to explore their own zeal for the subject through creative interpretations of literary works. I appreciated that the papers were closed readings, focusing on analysis rather than formality and summary. This allowed for a more in-depth reflection on the literary work rather than the traditional superficial overview. If you ever need to take a literature class, please take one with Professor Losano.

I highly encourage everyone to take a class from Professor Losano if you have the opportunity. She's very passionate about teaching, literature, history, and generally what you have to say. Overall, this class was very chill, and she doesn't expect you to do every single reading, which is nice. She is also very understanding and accommodating, and makes you feel excited for the material and subjects being taught.  

Professor Losano is extremely passionate about what she does. She is an excellent teacher but an even better person who is extremely accommodating and wants the best for her students. The class is not that hard but she makes it engaging. 