1.
January
16,
2014
Dear
Admission
Committee
Member
I
write
in
support
of
Ms.
Alexandra
Knowles'
application
to
your
master
of
arts
degree
program
in
Globalization
and
Human
Trafficking.
I
am
pleased
to
do
so
because
I
believe
Ms.
Knowles
to
be
an
unusually
highly
qualified
candidate.
I
have
known
Alexandra
Knowles
for
a
relatively
brief
time.
I
met
her
when
she
approached
me
some
ten
months
ago,
to
serve
as
faculty
sponsor
for
her
culminating
capstone
research
product,
required
of
all
our
majors.
Last
fall,
she
was
enrolled
in
my
upper-­‐level
seminar,
The
Psychology
of
Women.
However,
because
of
the
particularly
intense
and
personal
nature
of
the
interactions
in
this
seminar
and
because
Ms.
Knowles'
leadership
there
led
to
several
conversations
outside
of
class
regarding
her
personal
and
educational
goals
along
with
her
capstone
research,
I
have
come
to
know
Ms.
Knowles
very
well.
Academically,
Alexandra
Knowles
is
both
an
unusually
talented
student
and
an
unusually
motivated
student.
Her
performance
on
examinations
was
superb.
She
masters
complex
theory
and
empirical
research
with
equal
facility
and
thoroughness.
Ms.
Knowles
has
strong
analytic
abilities,
quickly
assessing
the
underlying
assumptions
of
an
argument,
their
relation
to
each
other
and
to
their
promoted
thesis.
Further,
I
enjoyed
watching
steady
growth
as
we
worked
together
in
her
already
well-­‐
developed
synthetic
abilities
in
class
and
through
her
work
on
her
departmental
capstone
product.
I
believe
she
will,
in
her
time
with
you,
increasingly
offer
her
own
original
theoretical
concepts.
In
addition
to
theoretical
strength,
Ms.
Knowles'
growing
insights
have
a
strongly
practical
character;
Ms.
Knowles'
understanding
of
the
problems
of
globalization
is
irrevocably
welded
to
commitment
to
and
talents
for
determining
methods
to
mitigate
the
suffering
it
causes.
It
is
this
commitment,
particularly
to
victims
who
are
young
and
female,
that
gives
Ms.
Knowles'
academic
work
such
powerful
drive.
Indeed,
in
my
thirty-­‐five
years
of
undergraduate
teaching,
I
have
not
encountered
a
student
whose
dedication
to
understanding
the
complexities
of
and
alleviating
the
realities
of
human
suffering
exceeds
the
dedication
demonstrated
by
Ms.
Knowles.
Additionally,
Alexandra
Knowles
brings
exceptionally
effective
communicative
abilities
to
her
endeavors.
Her
written
scholarship
is
excellent,
clearly
reasoned
and
clearly
expressed.
Her
verbal
skills
are
equally
strong
and
she
is
a
particularly
persuasive
person.
When
she
presented
material
to
the
seminar,
she
was
thorough
and
accurate
in
keeping
with
her
academic
abilities,
but
she
demonstrated
a
particular
flair
for
presenting
the
ideas
in
a
manner
that
made
them
readily
accessible
and
deeply
memorable
for
her
audience.
She
skillfully
and
gracefully
involved
her
classmates
in
the
presentations,
inviting
them
to
consider
the
material
on
its
merits,
to
apply
it
to
real-­‐life
situations
of
personal
concern
to
them
and
to
draw
their
own
considered
conclusions.
Hers
were
very
powerful
presentations
because,
while
passionate,
they
avoided
propagandizing
her
audience
and
respected
their
intellectual
autonomy
while
framing
the
experiences
in
ways
that
sidestepped
the
audience's
usual
emotional
defences
and
routine
comfortable,
dismissive
assumptions.
Ms.
Knowles
has
burnished
these
considerable
pedagogic
and
influential
talents
through
her
work
with
our
Women's
Center
and
this
is
an
area
of
accomplishment
that
I
fully
expect
her
to
pursue
throughout
her
working
life.

2.
On
a
more
personal
note,
Ms.
Knowles
is
a
delight
to
work
with.
She
is
honest
and
cooperative
in
her
dealings
with
other
people
and
straight-­‐forward
in
her
communications
with
them.
Indeed,
I
have
found
Ms.
Knowles
to
be
a
solidly
ethical
person
in
all
respects.
While
she
is
zealous
in
her
commitments,
she
has
the
rare
gift
of
being
able
to
take
her
work,
but
not
herself,
seriously.
She
has
a
gentle,
refreshing
sense
of
humor,
a
genuine
appetite
for
life
and
empathy
and
compassion
for
others
that
are
as
evident
on
the
personal
level
as
they
are
on
the
global
scale.
She
has
an
openness
to
and
appreciation
for
other
cultures
that
is
all
too
rare
in
Americans
and
a
deep
love
for
Denmark.
Her
openness
and
zest
for
life
have
enriched
me
personally.
I
inevitably
came
away
from
dealings
with
Alex
feeling
replenished,
encouraged
and
renewed
in
hope.
To
be
able
to
bring
people
bad
news,
bout
others'
suffering
and
about
their
own
complicity
in
that
suffering,
in
a
way
that
creates
engagement
rather
than
indifference
or
hostility
is
a
rare
gift.
I
deeply
believe
that
with
the
seasoning
and
experience
your
program
will
provide,
Alexandra
Knowles
will
be
able
to
bring
that
gift
to
wider,
international
audience
to
the
benefit
of
us
all.
She
has
the
intellectual
strengths,
the
personal
integrity
and
courage,
the
global
outlook
and
adaptability,
and
the
driving
commitment
to
succeed
in
the
rigors
of
your
program
and
those
of
her
chosen
work.
Her
candidacy
has
my
strongest
possible
personal
and
professional
support.
Sincerely,
Dana
D.
Anderson,
Ph.D.
Professor
of
Psychology