For Syracuse University students, Maymester courses are an opportunity to travel and explore, immerse themselves in a new culture or issue, gain hands-on experience, build skills or learn something entirely new …
… In Inclusive Schools and Societies: Lessons from the Italian Context, both matriculated and InclusiveU students journeyed to Italy to learn about the country’s progressive disability, accessibility and inclusion policies and practices in its schools and communities. “The overall goal of the course and study abroad experience is to live inclusion while we learn about it,” says School of Education Professor Christine Ashby G’01, G’07, G’08, director of the Center on Disability and Inclusion.
Their travels featured visits to schools, universities, museums and other cultural sites, including Syracuse Abroad headquarters at the Villa Rossa in Florence and the Uffizi Museum, Padua, Venice and Rome, with tours of the Colosseum and Forum. “This was a lifetime opportunity,” says InclusiveU student Nicolas Sorrentino ’29, who is specializing in disability studies.
Along with taking language lessons and enjoying the cuisine, the students found inspiration for the future. Inclusive childhood education major Bella Cecchinelli ’29 embraced the opportunity to study Italy’s policies, observe in the schools and draw comparisons with the US system and understand change is possible.
“This course has helped me learn a lot about different models of inclusion, but also what it means to truly live inclusively,” they say. “Observing the classroom has helped me establish the importance of a community that has a common goal to help one another succeed. I hope to create this community atmosphere within my classroom” …
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