Phillandra Smith (she/her), Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Critical Disability Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from Syracuse University, where she also completed Certificates of Advanced Study in Women’s and Gender Studies and Disability Studies.
An Afro-Caribbean scholar and educator, Dr. Smith brings years of experience in both K–12 and higher education. Her early education in the Caribbean, shaped by a majority Black faculty, laid the foundation for her commitment to affirming the intellectual identities of racially marginalized students. Her personal and professional experiences with disability and education inform her layered understanding of disability across cultural contexts.
Dr. Smith’s research and teaching center on equity-focused and inclusive pedagogies. She engages with frameworks such as DisCrit, decoloniality, and critical disability studies to examine how dominant cultural norms and systemic barriers influence the educational experiences of individuals with disabilities. Her work highlights how educators respond creatively and thoughtfully across diverse cultural contexts. She advocates for teacher preparation that foregrounds cultural responsiveness, the presumption of competence, and authentic representation in approaches to disability.
Dr. Smith teaches in the Special Education program.
Courses taught:
- Foundations of Special Education
- Instructional Methods for Students with High Incidence Disabilities
Teacher education
Anti-racist and anti-ableist inclusive pedagogies and practices
Inclusive higher education
Critical disability studies
Disability and critical race theory (DisCrit)
Myers, B., & Smith, P. (2022). Academic Accessibility in Inclusive Higher Education. Impact, Vol. 35 (1), Spring 2022
Smith, P., & Brozaitis, M. (in press). Teaching, assisting, reflecting: Our experience working together. In M. Gill & B. Myers (Eds.), Narrating higher education: Intellectual Disability. University of Minnesota Press
Banks, J., Smith, P., & Neal, D. (2022). Identity politics: Exploring DisCrit’s potential to empower activism and collective resistance. In D. Conner, B. Ferri & S. Annamma (Eds.), DisCrit expanded: Inquiries, reverberations & ruptures. NY: Teachers College Press.
Smith, P., Ashby, C., & Ferri, B. (2021). Interrogating assumptions about culture and disability: Becoming a critical and reflexive Educator. In E. Harkins, M. Fuller & L. Brusnahan (Eds.), Diversity, autism, and developmental disabilities: Guidance for the culturally responsive educator. Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Awards and Honors:
- Syracuse University Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2022)
- Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work (2022)
- Marsha Smith Lewis Memorial Dissertation Scholarship (2021)
- Syracuse University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (2021)
- Syracuse University School of Education Research and Creative Grant Award (2021)
- Joan N.Burstyn Endowed Research in Education Award for Collaborative Research (2021)
