Cahnmann Receives Honorable Mention in Worldwide Peace Poetry Contest

College of Education faculty member Melisa Cahnmann is a teacher by day and poet by night. Winning awards for her poetry is something she should be used to by now.

Cahnmann, an assistant professor in language and literacy education, recently received honorable mention in the 2005 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Contest.

The prestigious worldwide peace poetry contest that encourages poets to shed light on optimistic visions of peace and the human spirit is sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA. Cahnmann is a peace advocate herself. She belongs to the Abraham Alliance, a local organization that works with Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities to create peace.

The UGA bilingual academician incorporates poetry into every aspect of her life, including her research. Cahnmann's teaching and research include bilingualism, bilingual education and arts-based approaches to questions and multicultural education. She explains the importance of poetry in a qualitative researcher's methodology.

“Developing a poetic voice prepares scholars to discover and communicate findings in multidimensional, penetrating, and more accessible ways. It can be used for educational scholarship to impact the arts, influence wider audiences, and improve teacher and graduate student education.”

Earlier this year, Cahnmann's “spirit of life” poetry collection took first place in the first Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Contest, which included a $10,000 cash prize. This contest was established by the late Marvin Rosenberg, professor emeritus in the department of theatre arts at the University of California at Berkley, in memory of his first wife.

Cahnmann earned her Ph.D. in educational linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's in educational research from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor's in Spanish and Latin American studies from Tufts University. She is currently working on a fourth degree, a master's in poetry, through the New England College. Her expected graduation date is 2007.

Professionally, the award-winning poet is most interested in improving the education of all children, especially those whose native language is not English.

“I am working to explore how Georgia educators might learn from bilingual educational practices in other states to provide the most effective education possible to the growing Latino presence in the region.”

Monday, October 10, 2005

Writer: Angela Hains, 706/542-5889, anicole7@uga.edu
Contact: Melisa Cahnmann, 706/583-8127, cahnmann@uga.edu