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When Gabriel Blanco heard he could spend two weeks in Italy this summer, he jumped at the opportunity. Throughout his time studying alongside InclusiveU students at Syracuse University, he made friends he didn’t expect.

“The relationships I made with the inclusive students, we were all in it together,” Blanco said. “We really did everything together and I created friendships that I never would’ve created if I hadn’t gone.”

The students, composed of seven current and former InclusiveU students and seven School Of Education students, took a class together in Italy. SU Florence and the Center on Disability and Inclusion sponsored the program focused on inclusive learning.

Dr. Christine Ashby and Dr. Beth Myers, two professors at the School Of Education specializing in disabled and inclusive studies co-planned and led the program, allowing the group to explore, learn and experience Italy. In addition, two InclusiveU staff members joined them. They worked together to create an itinerary that showcased inclusive learning and allowed time to explore Italian culture.

InclusiveU allows students of all ages with different intellectual and developmental disabilities to experience college life in a fully inclusive environment. SU was named one of the top 20 colleges with “great inclusion programs” in 2025, according to The Mighty.

The program is an initiative of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, established in 2014. InclusiveU provides accommodating coursework to students, resources to connect with SU professors and peers and strategies for students to interact with each other.

“Our InclusiveU students are involved in so many opportunities on campus, but they were still missing out on a study abroad opportunity,” Myers said. “This experience was not something we studied, but a way of living and learning together.”

Blanco, a sophomore inclusive childhood education major, said the experience was personalized to education studies and was a “perfect way” to begin his study abroad career with hopes to go abroad in the future.

Alongside forming relationships, students took EDU300—one of the School Of Education’s selected topic courses focused on Italian schooling, and the context of the Italian government interacting with their education system.

The students dove into similarities and differences between the United States’ and Italy’s teaching systems to see how the countries differ, Blanco said.

Italy is internationally recognized for its progressive approach to inclusive education. The country has a 99% literacy rate and mandates policies to include all students regardless of disability status in the classroom, according to a study from the Open Journal of Social Sciences.

“All students deserve the opportunity to experience another culture through study abroad, and this course was a significant first step toward new and expanded intentionally inclusive abroad opportunities,” Ashby said.

Students also explored Italy on their own, from walking through passageways to riding up gondolas, all while studying at SU’s Florence Center. Being in a foreign country and experiencing it with the other students was a bonding experience, Blanco said.

Blanco said his favorite was Venice because of the flexibility granted by teachers and students. Other experiences included school and university visits to showcase inclusive education, museum tours and classroom outings.

“It was such an amazing two weeks. To get out of my hometown and go to a foreign country, it’s an experience that I’ve never done before,” Blanco said. “I think it’s a great way to put yourself out there and learn so much about the culture, the language and having that experience is very important.”

Published on August 20, 2025 at 8:57 pm
Contact Ally: akgoelz@syr.edu