Laila Ferreira

Laila Ferreira serves as an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media within the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia. Her office is located in Buchanan Tower (BuTo 207) where she teaches WRDS (Writing Studies) courses with specialized sections focused on disability studies and inclusive design.

Education:

• Ph.D. in English Language and Literatures, The University of British Columbia
• M.A. in English (Print Culture 1700-1900), Simon Fraser University

Dr. Ferreira's interdisciplinary approach integrates rhetorical genre theory, writing studies, literary theory, disability studies, and gender studies. She has developed specialized WRDS 150 courses where students analyze how different academic disciplines define disability and approach inclusive design in STEM fields. Her pedagogy emphasizes helping students recognize the situatedness of all communication within specific contexts.

As an educational leader at UBC, she co-designed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) workshops, participated in curriculum Indigenization initiatives, and co-chaired the First Year Experience Educator's Symposium. Her research examines learning experiences of marginalized students (low-socioeconomic status, Disabled, International, Indigenous, LGBTQ) in writing classrooms, investigating inclusive teaching frameworks like UDL and Self-Regulated Learning alongside UBC's ComPAIR technology.

Her current research includes a collaborative project analyzing gender language in facial recognition software research writing. Through her integrated work in teaching, research, and leadership, Dr. Ferreira aims to create conditions where students and instructors collaborate in knowledge production within a more inclusive university environment.