Academic Activism for Inclusion: The case study of the UNESCO Chair of Inclusion in Higher Education & CINESUP Foundation (Chile)

Abstract

The number of students with disabilities enrolled in Italian and foreign universities is constantly increasing. We cannot overlook the fact that this phenomenon presents some criticalities that do not always result in the active participation of the most vulnerable in university life. The present work aims to provide a relevant testimony by the author in the Latin American academic context. In particular, the article focuses on the experience of academic activism that has been taking place in Chile for thirty years and, specifically, at the UNESCO Chair Inclusion in the Higher Education (University of Santiago de Chile USACH) and through the CINESUP Foundation (International Center for Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education), on the thought of Prof. Francisco Javier Gil (1951-2021) whose objectives are: the equitable and permanent access of students with excellent academic performance and students with disabilities to university higher education.