Conference Program

Starting from the assumption that differences and educational inequalities cannot be fully understood without analysing the interdependence of gender, class, migratory background, ability, sexual orientation, and cultural belonging (Crenshaw, 1989; Collins, 2000), this paper explores how an intersectional approach can be translated into concrete university training practices. Although intersectionality is widely recognised as an essential epistemological framework for interpreting dynamics of power and discrimination, its operationalisation in educational contexts raises significant methodological and ethical dilemmas.

The paper presents and analyses an Erasmus Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) entitled “The territory as an educational community for educating in differences and preventing all forms of discrimination”, developed in collaboration among four European universities (Sassari in Italy; Salamanca and the European University of Madrid in Spain; Maia in Portugal) and coordinated by the University of Sassari. The project involved students and academic staff in a blended pathway—combining online activities and an intensive in-person week—aimed at promoting education for differences from an intersectional perspective.

The BIP experience was conceived as a pedagogical laboratory in which participants were invited not only to discuss differences, but to experience them directly. Through participatory methodologies, group work, analysis of local case studies, and structured reflective sessions, students were encouraged to critically problematise their own representations, recognise situated privileges and vulnerabilities (bell hooks, 1984), and reflect on their role as future education professionals in plural contexts. Within this framework, the territory was approached as an educational community and as a space for observing the intersections of social, cultural, and institutional dimensions that shape educational opportunities (Tramma, 2009).

The results highlight how the international and collaborative dimension of the Erasmus programme constitutes a privileged setting for making visible the intersections between systems of oppression and opportunity. The exchange among students from different national contexts fostered the emergence of plural—and at times conflicting—narratives, revealing how categories such as “integration,” “equality,” and “neutrality” are culturally situated. In line with intercultural education perspectives (Portera, 2020; Tarozzi & Torres, 2016) and with Banks’ (2016) conception of democratic citizenship education, the experience contributed to the construction of a transnational learning community oriented towards dialogue and the recognition of differences as a resource.

The paper contributes to the debate on higher education practices examined from multiple standpoints—students, teachers, and institutions—by showing how intersectionality can become not only an object of study, but also a guiding principle in curriculum design. The BIP experience suggests that education for differences should not be considered a peripheral area of pedagogical reflection; rather, it represents the core of an authentically democratic and inclusive education, capable of preparing professionals who are aware of the complexity and ethical responsibility inherent in their work within contemporary educational contexts.