College of Liberal Arts & Sciences World Languages & Cultures 3102 Pearson Hall Ames, Iowa 50011-2205 Phone: 515 294-4046 FAX: 515 294-9914 www.language.iastate.edu/

15  May  2014      Re:  Letter  of  Recommendation  for  Magdalena  Baranowska    To  Whom  It  May  Concern:    Please  accept  this  letter  of  support  for  Magdalena  Baranowska,  who  is  seeking  a  teaching  position  with  your  institution.    I  have  known  Magdalena  for  nearly  one  year,  chiefly  as  her  direct  supervisor  in  the  Department  of  World  Languages  and  Cultures  at  Iowa  State  University  where  she  has  been  employed  since  August  2013.    Magdalena  was  selected  for  the  position  of  Lecturer  of  Spanish  in  our  department  from  a  broad  and  deep  pool  of  applicants.    Her  background  as  a  Ph.D.  Candidate  at  the  University  of  Salamanca  (Spain)  provided  her  with  excellent  training  in  Spanish  language,  literature,  and  culture,  which  she  has  successfully  taught  in  our  department.  Indeed,  to  date,  she  has  taught  200-­‐level  Spanish  courses  (Spanish  201  and  202)  and  key  courses  in  grammar  and  composition  (Spanish  301),  and  Spanish  Conversation  for  Professionals  (Spanish  303B).    The  latter  is  a  difficult  course  to  teach  given  that  most  faculty  are  not  trained  in  this  area  and  there  is  a  lack  of  appropriate  materials.  Undaunted,  Magdalena  often  created  her  own  materials  for  the  course,  some  of  which  were  based  on  her  professional  experience  as  a  translator.  Other  resources  she  adapted  from  online  formats  such  as  videos,  audio  segments,  games,  and  other  worthy  and  helpful  pieces.    Indeed,  with  respect  to  teaching  at  the  200-­‐level,  our  curriculum  utilizes  several  different  multi-­‐media  and  online  formats  integrated  into  the  in-­‐class  and  out-­‐of-­‐class  experience.    Magdalena  is  very  adept  with  technology  in  teaching  and  quickly  was  able  to  not  only  learn  but  also  master  the  different  tools  we  were  using.    Overall,  her  abilities  with  computer-­‐aided  language  learning  is  high  and  she  has  even  sought  out  additional  training  through  the  Center  of  Excellence  in  Learning  and  Teaching  by  attending  relevant  workshops.    Magdalena  came  to  Iowa  State  from  Brown,  a  fine  institution  with  a  respected  undergraduate  program  in  Spanish.    Before  that,  Magdalena  was  undertaking  PHD  research  in  Salamanca.  While  Magdalena’s  stand-­‐along  teaching  skills  were  very  good,  through  additional  formal  and  required  mentoring  and  attendance  at  ISU  workshops  and  colloquiums,  we  are  pleased  to  report  that  we  believe  we  helped  her  become  an  even  better  instructor.    However,  Magdalena  is  eager  to  improve  in  all  instances.  As  I  am  sure  she  will  inform  you,  she  has  voluntarily  observed  others’  classes  and  invited  senior  professors  into  her  classroom  in  an  effort  to  constantly  improve.    As  a  whole,  Magdalena  is  a  confident,  innovative,  and  dedicated  instructor  who  cares  deeply  for  her  students  and  seeks  excellence  in  their  work.    We  are  pleased  to  have  had  the  opportunity  to  work  with  her.    Magdalena  is  pursuing  a  position  with  your  institution  because  she  was  contracted  at  Iowa  State  University  as  a  one-­‐year  replacement.  Although  I  was  able  to  extend  her  through  fall  2014,  we  cannot  unfortunately  keep  her  on  the  faculty  for  budgetary  reasons.    Our  loss  may  be  your  gain  as  you  will  have  a  well-­‐trained  and  attentive  instructor  of  Spanish  who  is  capable  of  teaching  many  courses  in  your  undergraduate  curriculum.    Should  you  need  additional  information  to  consider  Magdalena  Baranowska  for  a  position  at  your  institution,  please  feel  free  to  contact  me  at  your  convenience.    With  best  regards,  

 Chad  M.  Gasta  Professor  of  Spanish  and  Chair,  Director,  International  Studies  Co-­‐Director,  Languages  and  Cultures  for  Professions  (LCP)  

Hispanic Studies

BROWN UNIVERSITY Box 1961, 84 Prospect Street

Providence, Rhode Island 02912

To Whom It May Concern: It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation in support of Magdalena Baranowska. I worked with Magdalena as Teaching Fellow Supervisor of Intermediate Spanish II during the spring of 2013. Magdalena’s commitment, reliability, and professionalism made her an invaluable asset to students and fellow instructors alike. I have no doubt that she would quickly become an integral part of any Hispanics department. Magdalena joined the Hispanic Studies faculty in September 2012 as a Visiting Teaching Associate, and I had the chance to collaborate with her professionally during the following semester. Magdalena was one of three TA’s in HISP400, a second-semester intermediate course designed to move students to a more sophisticated level of understanding and expression through vocabulary enrichment, more accurate manipulation of verb tenses and moods, and sharpening of communicative skills within the domains of grammar, literature, and culture. Instructor meetings were always rewarding and productive, as Magdalena regularly contributed original activities and PowerPoint presentations with grammar instruction and practice. Whether we were discussing the subjunctive or The Motorcycle Diaries, Magdalena was eager to share material that revealed expertise in a student-centered model of language instruction based on logically-sequenced communicative tasks. Magdalena was clearly comfortable in the role of leader and innovator during our TA meetings, and her collegiality added much to the course. Magdalena was originally assigned two sections of HISP400; however, one of the sections was closed due to insufficient enrollment, and Magdalena was asked to assist with two literature survey courses as a writing tutor. While I was not directly involved with this latter course, I believe this sudden change of duties merits mention as it supposed an increased workload for Magdalena, who now had to prepare for one course and make herself available for tutoring and instruction for two sections of a second course as well. Despite any inconvenience this may have caused, Magdalena immediately opened lines of communication with the instructors of the literature course to ask how she could best assist them, and she remained equally committed and available to students of both courses throughout the semester. Given the aforementioned it is my sincere belief that Magdalena would successfully fill a teaching position at any university, and I am pleased to offer my most enthusiastic recommendation on behalf of my esteemed colleague. Sincerely,

Bryan Betancur, A.M. Doctoral Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant Department of Hispanic Studies, Brown University

Mr Diego Antonio Ramírez Dávila with Tax Code: B20822144. I hereby certify that: Since 2010, Magdalena Baranowskafreelance translator/interpreter which offers over-the-phone interpretation services focused on social and health sectors. Most representative clients assisted by

• EMPRESA PÚBLICA DE EMERGENCIAS EMERGENCIES PUBLIC COMPANY)

• SERVICIO MADRILEÑO DE SALUD

• OSAKIDETZA (BASQUE COUNTRY HEALTH SYSTEM)

• FUNDACIÓN ANDALUZA DE SERVICIOS SOCIALESSOCIAL SERVICES)

• SERVEI DE SALUT DE LES ILLES BALEARS

• INSTITUTO ANDALUZ DE LA MUJER

• 016 MUJER (WOMEN EMERGENCIES PHONE)

• 112 EMERGENCIAS (ARAGÓN, GALICIA, VALENCIA, ANDALUCÍA)…EMERGENCIES)

What I sign to have the desired effect and to whom it may concern Diego Antonio Ramírez Dávila

Polo de Innovación GARAIA Goiru kalea, 1. Edificio A

20500 Arrasate-Mondragón Tel. +34 943 71 56 70 - Fax.

www.dualia.es | dualia@dualia.es

Mondragón,

Diego Antonio Ramírez Dávila on behalf of Dualia Teletraducciones SL. Spanish Company

Magdalena Baranowska, bearer of ID: ACI636469, cooperates withinterpreter for the company Dualia Teletraducciones SLphone interpretation services focused on social and health sectors.

Most representative clients assisted by Magdalena Baranowska:

EMPRESA PÚBLICA DE EMERGENCIAS SANITARIAS DE ANDALUCÍA. (EMERGENCIES PUBLIC COMPANY)

SERVICIO MADRILEÑO DE SALUD (MADRID HEALTH SYSTEM)

(BASQUE COUNTRY HEALTH SYSTEM)

N ANDALUZA DE SERVICIOS SOCIALES (ANDALUSIAN FOUNDATION FOR

SERVEI DE SALUT DE LES ILLES BALEARS (BALEARIC ISLANDS HEALTH SYSTEM)

INSTITUTO ANDALUZ DE LA MUJER (WOMEN CARE INSTITUTION)

(WOMEN EMERGENCIES PHONE)

112 EMERGENCIAS (ARAGÓN, GALICIA, VALENCIA, ANDALUCÍA)…

What I sign to have the desired effect and to whom it may concern:

Diego Antonio Ramírez Dávila

Polo de Innovación GARAIA Goiru kalea, 1. Edificio A

Mondragón Gipuzkoa (Spain) Fax. +34 943 71 31 77

www.dualia.es | dualia@dualia.es

10th January 2011

on behalf of Dualia Teletraducciones SL. Spanish Company

cooperates with and works as a Teletraducciones SL, a company

phone interpretation services focused on social and health sectors.

SANITARIAS DE ANDALUCÍA. (ANDALUSIA

FOUNDATION FOR

ISLANDS HEALTH SYSTEM)

112 EMERGENCIAS (ARAGÓN, GALICIA, VALENCIA, ANDALUCÍA)… (PHONE

To Whom it may concern: It is my immense pleasure to recommend Magdalena Baranowska. She has collaborated for Intercom Empresas (Grupo Intercom, Barcelona based venture capital firm) as a Content Editor for almost 1 year and we are completely satisfied with the work provided by her. I consider Magdalena Baranowska to be a confident worker, and a highly versatile, patient and motivated person, with strong ability to learn. I feel confident that, in the suitable position, she will improve her knowledge and skills towards higher levels and she will surely succeed in her future jobs. It is for these reasons that I strongly recommend Magdalena Baranowska without reservation. If further information is needed about her reference, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Yours sincerely,

_____________________________________________ Toni Montenegro Saiztmontenegro@grupointercom.com - 619 800 308Content Manager Intercom Empresas - Grupo Intercom

Avda. Alcalde Barnils, 64-68 4D - 08174 Sant Cugat del Vallès - Barcelona | Tel. +34 93 504 56 00

UNIVERSIDAD

DE

SALAMANCA

Profa. María Eugenia Díaz Sánchez DEPARTAMENTO DE FILOLOGÍA INGLESA C/ Placentinos, 18, 1º. 37008 SALAMANCA Teléf.: 923265290 ó 687 407285

E-mail: mediaz@usal.es

May 14, 2013

To Whom It May Concern: It’s my honor to write on behalf of Magdalena Baranowska, my present Ph.D student and my former student in the course “Twentieth Century American Novel”. Magdalena Baranowska is currently working on a doctoral degree in “Languages and Cultures in Contact” at the University of Salamanca (Faculty of Philology). I have a true pleasure to supervise her dissertation, in which she is focusing on Intertextuality in English and Spanish literature. Her main fields of study are Bertha y Antoinette y Rochester in “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë and “Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys, and Rocamadour in “Hopscotch” by Cortazar and “One Hundred Years of Solitud” by García Marquez. By doing comparative analysis of the factual material and the original and rewritten characters, she tries to determine whether Jean Rhys and García Marquez are successful in reconstructing the primary characters (and whether this was their aim), and to what extent these can be considered as original literary creations.

Magdalena is highly intelligent, mature beyond her years, and enthusiastically dedicated to learning everything she can about the American and English, as well as Spanish and Latin American language, literature, and civilization. She possesses a thirst for knowledge and a work ethic found in very few graduate students. Her Honors and GPA, multiple, successful academic experiences, and her demonstrated excellence in English and Spanish all attest to the fact that Magdalena is an exceptional graduate student.

At no time is Magdalena ever satisfied with her growing English and Spanish proficiency or her impressively high grades. She always looks to improve and learn more. She has chosen to move to the U.S. and teach Spanish to graduate and undergraduate students at the prestigious Brown University. As a result of her hard work, high intelligence, and life’s experience, Magdalena is truly multilingual and multicultural.

If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Dra. Mª Eugenia Díaz Sánchez Home number: 34-923265290 Departamenteo de Filología Inglesa Universidad de Salamanca

FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA

13 de mayo de 2013

Estimados señores:

En calidad de profesora titular de literatura y cultura norteamericana de la Universidad de

Salamanca, es un placer recomendar a Magdalena Baranowska.

Dª Magdalena Baranowska ha sido estudiante mía en la licenciatura de Filología inglesa,

donde ha demostrado que se trata de un alumna excelente, siempre ávida de conocimiento y de

profudizar tanto en los contenidos como en los paradigmas críticos discutidos en clase.

Se trata de una pensadora analítica e independiente, que conoce plenamente lo que

significa la ética del trabajo. A su capacidad intelectual me gustaría añadir su madured

emocional, su impecable hábito de trabajo, su responsabilidad, y su respeto hacia profesores y

demás alumnos

Por todas estas razones, es un placer para mi poder recomendar a Magdalena Baranowska

para cualquier puesto de responsabilidad educativa o investigadora. No me cabe ninguna duda de

que superará con creces cualquier expectativa académica pues se tratra de una candidata óptima.

Dr. Ana Mª Manzanas Profesora Titular de Literatura y Cultura Norteamericana Vicedecana de Relaciones Internacioanales Facultad de Filología