Michelle Cohn is a graduate student in Linguistics, investigating the connections between language processing and music in the brain — this of course, only makes sense that she is also a multi-instrumentalist and polyglot.

Cohn graduated from an honors program in UC Santa Barbara in 2012 with a double major in Linguistics and Italian Studies. As a native Southern Californian, she didn’t know much about the Davis community, but made it her goal to attend UC Davis for its flexible graduate program and opportunities to teach. "The sub-emphasis in linguistics on language in the mind and brain –– and being able to take classes in linguistics, psychology, and neurobiology — made it the best choice, easily," Cohn says about her decision. She began her doctoral studies at UC Davis with a teaching assistantship immediately following the completion of her undergraduate degree.

Her last project, "Language, Music, and the Brain; Word, Chord, and Non-Object Processing," presented in the 2014 Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium (IGPS), won her the $5000 award for Chancellor’s Prize for Best Oral Presentation and the $1000 award for Best Oral Presentation in Social Sciences. Cohn has participated in IGPS each year since 2013 and has also won Best Interdisciplinary Paper (3rd Place) in the past. "It was great to network with people in a lot of different fields. Symposia are usually so specialized that you rarely get to engage with people outside of your department. You really get to see things you never think about."

Beyond her research, Cohn is especially enthusiastic about teaching, and has taken opportunities to TA many linguistics classes and learn about innovative teaching methods through the Learner-Centered Teaching workshop series put on by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. "I really enjoy engaging students with the material," she says. "It kind of all came together coming here."

As she continues her research and teaching here at UC Davis, she knows a little more about the community than she did before. When she’s not working hard in academia or learning to play a new instrument, she is taking yoga classes at the ARC, biking around Davis, and going to Farmers Markets.

For more on Cohn, including her current research, see her department webpage.