Gordon Teskey
Department of English and American Literature and Language
Barker Center, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge MA 02138.
gtestkey at fas.harvard.edu

To students requesting letters of recommendation:
BE SURE I HAVE AGREED TO WRITE A LETTER FOR YOU BEFORE SENDING ANY MATERIALS.
I prefer to do letters electronically, either for a university dossier service or INTERFOLIO. If you have not set up a file with such a service, or with INTERFOLIO, please do so. INTERFOLIO will assign you a code number, which you will need to give me when I agree to write a letter for you.

It will greatly help me writing your letter if you send me by mail (not by the internet) the following materials and information. Please send them in a single package, not at separate times:

The full name and address, including email and telephone (if applicable), of the person or institution to whom I am to write.

Any form that needs to be submitted with the letter.

A stamped and addressed envelope, with the due date of the letter written on the envelope in pencil. (You don’t need to stamp the envelope if you are not currently in the USA.)

Your curriculum vitae and university transcript. The transcript can be a copy, not an original, certified transcript.

An account of the courses you took with me and the dates of those courses.

At least one, and preferably two, essays you wrote for me, with the comments and grades I put on them.

While I will try my best to accommodate requests for letters with deadlines coming soon, generally I write letters of recommendation in the order I receive them. Please try to send me the materials mentioned above at least three weeks before the due date of the letter.

To graduate students:
Please send me, in one package, the above materials, i.e., addressee, any required form, stamped and addressed envelope, cv, courses you took with me and the dates you took them, and course essays with comments. You don’t need to send your undergraduate transcript, but please give me a brief description of all the courses you have taken in graduate school. If it does not say so on your cv, mention what languages you read if they are relevant to your doctoral studies and research. Indicate what year you are in in the program, whether you have taken your field examinations, and when you expect to complete the Ph.D. Describe the subject of your dissertation, including the titles of the individual chapters. Include a chapter of the dissertation, if you have one. Send me the entire dissertation only if it is complete or very nearly so.