July 31, 2011 East Lansing, MI To Whom It May Concern, I write this letter to recommend Bryce Coon for

a position as a teacher. I had the pleasure of working with Bryce in two courses, one of them an independent study, during his studies at Michigan State. He is a terrific student and a terrific person, and I recommend him enthusiastically and without reservation. I first got to know Bryce in my upper-level seminar in modern Vietnamese history in the fall of 2009. The course requires students to complete a large amount of reading for each session, as well as to produce an original research paper over the course of the semester. From the very beginning, Bryce was consistently well prepared for class, and he made excellent contributions to class discussion. I was not surprised when Bryce, unlike many of the other students, took the initiative to choose a topic for his research paper that was not on the list of suggested topics. Bryce wrote his paper on the experience of American nurses in Vietnam, using memoirs as his primary source base. The topic itself showed creativity and an unusual way of thinking about the human experience of this war I was especially impressed that Bryce chose to focus on women, who are very often written out of the history of Department of History warfare. Bryce did a great job with his paper. He showed good research skills and gathered a diverse and interesting body of sources, he read them carefully and Michigan State University creatively, and his writing was clear and well organized. It was one of the best papers 301 Morrill Hall East Lansing, MI 48824 in the course.
(517) 355-7500 FAX: 517-353-5599 web:http://www.history.msu.edu

The following semester, Bryce asked me to work with him in an independent study, focusing more closely on American policymaking and the Vietnam War. It is rare for me to be able to make the time to work with an undergraduate student in this capacity, but I did not hesitate when Bryce asked me to do it. Together, we read a body of literature that took the broadest possible view of influences on policy, from the individual personalities of presidents to cultural currents of the time. Bryces paper for the independent study was historiographical in nature: I asked him to compare how different historians understand and approach the idea of policymaking and its many constituent parts. As he had with his previous paper, Bryce did a great job.

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My two courses with Bryce have taught me two things about why he will be an excellent teacher. The first is specific to history, his primary subject. Bryce clearly understands two things that all teachers need to understand about history: first, that it is the sum of individual experiences, all of which matter; and second, that history is not a fixed record of facts, but a deeply interpretive and political subject that changes based on who is writing it or when it is written. These are the things that make history alive and interesting: if it not taught that way, it becomes, to borrow Mark Twains famous definition of history, one damn thing after another. Bryce will be the history teacher that students are happy to get. In getting to know Bryce over this year, I have learned another, equally important thing about him that will make him good at his job. Bryce is responsible, punctual, organized, and self-motivated. He communicates well with people, and he is respectful of their time and thankful for their efforts on his behalf. He is simply a very nice and likeable person who treats other people well. It was a pleasure to work with him as a student, and I am sure it will be as much of a pleasure to have him as a colleague. Finally, without repeating Bryces resume, it is quite clear that he has been committed to this career for a long time, even since before he came to Michigan State. At a time when it is getting harder and harder to find good teachers, we should all be happy that people like Bryce continue to enter the profession. As I mentioned, I recommend Bryce enthusiastically and without reservation. Please feel free to contact me at ckeith@msu.edu with any questions.

Sincerely,

Charles Keith Assistant Professor of History Department of History Michigan State University