California Institute of Integral Studies
Graduate Student, Transformative Studies
About
Prof. Ronna Burger
Director, Master of Liberal Arts
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118
June 6, 2008
Ms. Allyson Werner
California Institute of Integral Studies
1453 Mission St., 4th floor
San Francisco, CA 94103-2557
Dear Ms. Werner:
I am writing to recommend Kendra Harris for your PhD program in Transformative Learning and Change. I have not had Kendra in class myself, but I have been Director of the Master of Liberal Arts program at Tulane while Kendra was a student here, from fall 2006 to this spring, when she received her degree.
The Tulane MLA is an interdisciplinary master’s program. We offer a number of core liberal arts courses, but students are expected to build their own individual curriculum on that basis. Kendra was a model of success in this. She developed skills in reading, writing, and critical analysis, while becoming familiar with some classic works in several of our core courses (one on masterworks of modern western literature, two others on the themes of love and war in literature and film). On that basis, she concentrated in anthropology and linguistics, with a focus on African culture and languages: along with fundamental anthropology courses on the relation of culture and religion and the archaeology of art, she pursued more particular subjects like slavery and freedom in Africa, or “African Modernities,” as well as the languages of Yoruba and Wolof, maintaining a GPA above 3.0 throughout her studies.
Kendra completed these academic accomplishments while working in programs that incorporate art into public education. In her role as a cultural dance instructor, she used that medium to motivate students and develop their awareness of themselves and the world around them. In the challenging post-Katrina situation, Kendra was involved helping to organize events that link the university and the community, in particular through the Center of African and African American Studies.
In her professional as well as academic work, Kendra displays the rare combination of a broad range of interests and a particular focus. With her enthusiasm and dedication, I expect she will take every advantage of the opportunity to study in your program and she will have much to contribute to it.
Sincerely,
Ronna Burger
Contact Information
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