Laura Hamman-Ortiz, Ph.D.

Laura Hamman-Ortiz is an Assistant Professor of ESL/Bilingual Education in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Northern Colorado, where she also coordinates the certification program for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Laura’s research focuses on language and literacy learning in elementary bilingual classrooms, with specific interests in two-way bilingual education, translanguaging, and genre-based writing pedagogy. She has published on these topics in refereed journals such as the Bilingual Research Journal, Language and Education, the Journal of Literacy Research, and the Journal of Second Language Writing.

Laura received her Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Notre Dame. Laura has nearly a decade of experience as a teacher educator and, prior to that, taught elementary and secondary students in the U.S. and Chile.

For ENL, she teaches the course “Foundations for Teaching Second Language Learners.” Laura is passionate about preparing all teachers to serve culturally and linguistically diverse learners and is committed to working toward more equity in our schools and society.

In her free time, Hamman-Ortiz is an avid long-distance runner and enjoys spending time with her husband and young daughters and hiking in the mountains of Colorado.