December 21, 2018

Letter of Recommendation for Ethan Krogman

I strongly recommend Mr. Ethan Krogman for a teaching position.

Ethan graduated from Loras College in December 2018. While at Loras College, he demonstrated a clear
career objective and strong motivation to achieve that objective. From the very beginning of his study at
Loras College, he decided to seek teaching endorsement and to become a school teacher after graduation.
He never wavered in this choice.

Ethan took three of my courses. One of them was the upper-division elective on the Second World War.
In this class, each student was required to write a ten-page paper analyzing a military campaign or battle
of his/her choice. Ethan’s paper, which analyzed the Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord),
was one of the best papers I received in the semester he took this course.

My other two courses that Ethan took were the Cold War and Modern Chinese History and Culture. Each
of these courses provided students with a special kind of challenging learning experience. One of the
objectives of the Cold War class was to examine the role of national identities in international politics.
The course placed special emphasis on exploring how the Cold War created new American and Soviet
identities and how these identities operated in the Cold War. Therefore, the reading assignments in this
class were challenging, and the written assignments required students to demonstrate a high level of
critical thinking skills. The Chinese History and Culture class challenged students to develop an in-depth
understanding of continuity and change in Chinese culture through reading and analyzing primary source
documents. Ethan performed well in both these classes.

In addition to his strong motivation and intellectual ability to master complex and difficult subjects, Ethan
also demonstrated strong skills for written and oral communication in the three classes indicated above.
In each of these classes, students were required to write more than one paper and give an oral
presentation. Papers that Ethan wrote in these classes were well-organized. Each of them developed a
clear argument and supported it with appropriate evidence. His oral presentations were also well-
organized and effective.

I believe that Mr. Krogman has both the motivation and ability to be a good teacher.

Sincerely,

Lee S. Zhu
Lee S. Zhu, Ph. D.
Professor of History
Loras College
Dubuque, IA 52001
Email: Lee.Zhu@loras.edu
Office phone: 563-588-7199