February 9, 2015

Faculty,
I have been asked to write a letter in support of Samantha Bankstons application for promotion
from the rank of assistant to associate professor. I do so with pleasure, having known Samantha
since her arrival at Sierra Nevada College in 2010. At that time, Samantha joined the Humanities
Department as an adjunct.
Soon after her arrival, she completed her Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University and her
dissertation was nominated for the Purdue University Distinguished Dissertation Award. During
her first semesters at SNC, she taught a wide variety of both general education courses (CORE
101 Ecopsychology, ENGL 101 and102) as well as philosophy-oriented courses (PHIL 101
Introduction to Philosophy, PHIL 480Existentialism, PHIL 480The Philosophy of Time,
PHIL 480Social and Political Philosophy). Samantha has been instrumental in creating and
teaching a series of French language and literature courses (FREN 101 and 102, FREN 380
French Literature in Translation). She has taught several courses in the area of literature and
aesthetics (ENGL 380Film Adaptation and the Novel, ENGL 380Art and Literature of the
Jazz Age, ENGL 327Contemporary American Literature and ENGL 215Introduction to Film
Studies). She has also taught Womens Studies (HUMN 280).
Samantha can teach knowledgeably, forcefully and memorably in a variety of disciplines and her
consistently positive student evaluations testify to her demonstrated competence and command
in the classroom.
In addition to teaching, Samanthas impressive and accomplished research to date has shifted the
entire conception of what research might be at SNC. Although we are primarily a teaching
college, the obvious connection between solid research and excellent teaching cannot be denied.
Samanthas extensive bibliography fills a gap for the college often neglected and her research
provides a solid example of the well-balanced academic life. She has two forthcoming booklength studies to her credit, (Deleuze and Zizek, Palgrave Macmillan, Deleuze and Becoming(s),
Bloomsbury Publications, a translation, Anne Sauvagnargues Deleuze and Art,
Bloomsbury/Continuum and several chapters in collections of essays. She has given
presentations around the world on Deleuze, Simone de Beauvoir, Zelda Fitzgerald and Zizek.
Samantha has been instrumental in applying for and successfully organizing a French film
festival (the Tournees Festival Film) from 2011 to 2013). She has served as the director of the
Honor Society, providing several dimensions of scholarship and cultural enrichment to a
significant number of students and serving as a valued counselor and mentor in her areas of
expertise.

In the half decade since arriving at SNC, Samantha has responded positively and effectively to
the needs and the often rapidly changing demands of a small liberal arts college in the process of
frequently rapid and often confusing change. While teaching at SNC, she has become a valued
member of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and an esteemed colleague of a
small and tightly-knit faculty.
By effectively altering the depth and breadth of a constantly changing program that provides
most of the general education courses to the college, she has demonstrated on many occasions
her importance and value for Sierra Nevada College and therefore she richly deserves promotion
to the rank of associate professor.
Sincerely,

Dan OBryan
Chair, Humanities Department