Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts

Claudia Cornett is a Professor Emerita at Wittenberg University. During her twenty-four year tenure at Wittenberg, she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in all aspects of literacy, children's literature, and arts integration. She also directed the Education Department's Reading Center. In recognition of her work, the Wittenberg's Alumni Association honored her with the Distinguished Teaching Award. Before moving to the college level, Claudia taught grades 1-8, served a reading specialist, and earned a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Miami University.

Claudia has written numerous books and articles about how and why the arts should be considered integral teaching and learning tools, and has publications in the fields of bibliotherapy, the strategic use of humor, and different components of literacy. In the latter category, her most recent book is entitled Comprehension First: Inquiry into Big Ideas and Important Questions (Holcomb Hathaway). In addition to writing, Claudia regularly does keynote speeches and conducts professional development for educators throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada. She has also been involved as a writer and worked on camera in various educational television productions including Sounds Abound (a series on early literacy), and Art Chat, which features interviews with artists in their studios. Additionally, she has done costumed interpretation in the role of Harriet Beecher Stowe and serves as a docent for two house museums: Glendower Mansion (Ohio) and the John Mark Verdier House (South Carolina).

Currently, Claudia's professional work focuses on addressing literacy issues using an arts-infused teaching model. She has also just completed a novel set in the Low Country of South Carolina, where she lives with her husband, a retired school superintendent. She can be reached at ccornett@wittenberg.edu.