Colleen Laird

Dr. Colleen Laird is an Assistant Professor of Japanese Film in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her research focuses on Japanese cinema, particularly examining female directors, gendered image production, and the intersection of film and videographic criticism.

• Ph.D., University of Oregon (East Asian Languages and Literatures, 2012)
• M.A., University of Oregon (East Asian Languages and Literatures, 2006)
• B.A., Macalester College (Asian Studies & Biology, 2002)

Her work interrogates the roles of women in the Japanese film industry, the pedagogy of Japanese cinema, and the use of videographic criticism as a scholarly and educational tool. She has produced educational video series such as J-Horror Video Series and Formal Analysis and Japanese Cinema Series, available as open educational resources.

Dr. Laird’s recent publications span videographic essays and peer-reviewed articles in journals like [in]Transition, Tecmerin, and Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema. Her research frequently explores themes of domestic spaces, gendered narratives, and transnational cultural exchanges.

• SSHRC Connection Grant: Reframing the Argument (2025)
• British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound Best Video Essays (2022–2024)
• Hampton Fund Research Grant (2020–2022)

At UBC, she co-leads the Collaborative Digital Heritage Studio (CoDHerS) and teaches courses on Japanese film, gender and media, and videographic criticism, emphasizing multimodal learning and creative scholarship.