Natania Rosenfeld

Natania Rosenfeld taught English literature at Knox from 1998 until her retirement in 2018. She published a critical book, Outsiders Together: Virginia and Leonard Woolf (Princeton University Press, 2000), a book of poetry, Wild Domestic (Sheep Meadow Press, 2015), and a chapbook of essays, She and I (Essay Press, 2018). Her essays, poems and fiction have appeared in journals including AGNI, Yale Review, APR, Raritan, Gettysburg Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner and Southwest Review. She now teaches literature courses for adults through the Newberry Library and the Graham School at the University of Chicago.

Personal Web Page

Years at Knox: 1998 to 2018

Education
Ph.D., English, 1992, Princeton University.
B.A., English, 1985, Bryn Mawr College.

Teaching Interests
English literature, modern British literature, Irish literature, American literature, Jewish literature, creative non-fiction, literature of the Holocaust, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce.

What Students Say
"Natania Rosenfeld's intellect and rigor ensure that her students leave her classrooms better thinkers and better communicators. But, what's more and possibly more important, she reminds her students that art is not merely entertaining and pleasurable--it is vital. The precision of vision and articulation that she demands from her students, and which she works hard to help them achieve, finds its origin in her belief that the study of literature is also an ethical act. Her classrooms and the texts that populate them often expose our vulnerabilities--at the least our ambivalence--and Professor Rosenfeld makes a space for students to wade into those murky waters. She wades in with them. She is unflinching; her enthusiasm, her tough questions, and her conviction that what we think and say matter are catching."
-Elizabeth S. Marzoni, English Major, History Minor

"Natania is deeply invested in all of her students and is very approachable. She encourages everyone to participate in class and guides discussions with challenging follow-up questions. Like all good professors, she sees teaching as an opportunity for her to learn as well as her students. She's the kind of person who prefers to give you feedback over coffee so that she can get to know you as well. Besides being an excellent teacher, Natania is a proficient writer, juggling poetry, personal essays, academic articles and fiction with enviable ease. She has a true passion for literature and is a fantastic role model for any prospective writer or teacher."
-Laura Zuber, English and Spanish Major