DEPARTMENT OF

RELIGIOUS STUDIES & CLASSICS

Learning Services Building
Room 203
1512 E. First Street
PO Box 210105
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0105
Tel: (520) 621-1689
Fax: (520) 621-3678

www.religion.arizona.edu
www.classics.arizona.edu

January 23, 2020

RE: Bonnie Mitson’s Application for Music Teaching Position

To Whom It May Concern:

I write to enthusiastically and strongly recommend Bonnie Mitson for your position as a music teacher.
Ms. Mitson is highly motivated and would bring her passion for education to your school. In my
courses, she has displayed the ability to carefully and critically convey difficult material in an accessible
and digestible manner. She is also able to keep an open mind about a variety of material and others’
interpretations and analyses while developing her own thoughts and ideas through and within her
written and verbal communication, pushing the limits of her academic comfort zones in order to gain
diverse perspectives on the world around her.

I have known Ms. Mitson since Fall 2016 when she enrolled in my large introductory freshman course
RELI 160A1: Gods, Goddesses, and Demons, Divinity in South Asia. This course requires students to think
critically about received knowledge and to interrogate the material in meaningful ways. I immediately
took notice of Ms. Mitson because of the ways that she engaged in-class discussion. I was impressed by
Ms. Mitson’s preparation for class, her close reading of the material, and the depth of her engagement
with the difficult concepts. Even more, I was stunned by how comfortable she was expressing her ideas
in front of a class of 275+ students. She calmly and intelligently expressed her ideas in a manner that
was clear and poignant.

I was thrilled when, after I returned from a yearlong sabbatical, I saw that Ms. Mitson had registered for
my upper-division course RELI 323: Women, Goddesses, and Power in Hinduism. Ms. Mitson did not
disappoint. She continued to be prepared, intelligently engage with the difficult material, and speak
eloquently during in-class discussion. She, however, had also developed as a student. While she was
stellar in introductory class, she now is one of the best students that I’ve had the privilege of teaching,
pushing the material through thoughtful inquiry beyond what is asked from the course. Her inquisitive
nature and love of learning have made her a delightful addition to my course, and her classroom
performance has proven that Ms. Mitson has the skills and demeanor to be an amazing educator—I
guarantee she will excel.

Through her performance in my classes, Ms. Mitson has displayed her ability to digest difficult material
on a deeper and more nuanced level and that she has the skills to explain that material in a clear
manner. Given the opportunity I believe Ms. Mitson’s skills will translate well into the music
classroom.

Page 2

If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to call or email.

Sincerely,

Caleb Simmons, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
University of Arizona

calebsimmons@email.arizona.edu
+1 520 621 0697