Recommendation Letter Workshop

March 18, 2021 (Thursday) / 12:00 pm1:00 pm

ONLINE

Recommendation Letter Workshop

Karen Redrobe

Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Endowed Professor in Film Studies, University of Pennsylvania

Sophia Rosenfeld

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania


Early career humanists at Penn are invited to a virtual Recommendation Letter Workshop led by Karen Redrobe, Wolf Humanities Center Director, and Sophia Rosenfeld, Wolf Humaniites Center 'Choice' Topic Director, that addresses the following topics:

  • what to request from people wanting a letter from you or to provide for people writing for you as well as who to ask and why
  • how much time is reasonable for turnaround
  • basic ingredients of a strong, useful letter
  • the difference between individualized vs. Interfolio letters
  • expectations / genre differences for different kinds of letters (grad school, fellowships, tenure, etc)
  • frequent symptoms of bias in letters and how to avoid them 
  • things not to do / what can go wrong with letters
  • what to do if you see a damning letter in a file or if you suspect you have one
  • ideal length