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This class exposes students to the myriad ways in which gender differences structure our social relations, cultural values, institutions, and the production of knowledge. In so doing, this class examines women’s lives with a primary focus on how gender interacts with race, class, and sexual orientation. Through this course, students will examine the experiences, concerns, and creative production of women of different socioeconomic, racial, sexual, cultural, and national backgrounds in an effort to gain a more complete understanding of women’s lives in the United States and globally. We will also explore women’s ability to improve their lives by becoming agents of change through activism and social protest while examining the ways in which gender interacts with structures of power and oppression.
Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.
Create a User page.
To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.
Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.
Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class.
Assignment - Choosing your article
Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.
Week 3
In class - Discuss the article topics
Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.
Assignment - Finalize your topic and start researching
Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your topic on the course page.
Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
Week 4
In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.
Assignment - Drafting starter articles
If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
Milestones
All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.
Week 5
In class - Moving articles to mainspace
We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.
If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
Week 6
In class - Building articles
Demo uploading images and adding images to articles.
Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)
Assignment - Complete first draft
Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.
Week 7
In class - Group suggestions
As a group, offer suggestions for improving one or two other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.
Assignment - Peer review and copyedit
Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.
Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
In class - Media literacy discussion
Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.
Assignment - Address peer review suggestions
Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
Week 8
In class - Discuss further article improvements
Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.
Assignment - Continue improving articles
Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
Assignment - Prepare for in-class presentation
Prepare for an in-class presentation about your Wikipedia editing experience.
In class - In-class presentation
Students give in-class presentations about their experiences editing Wikipedia.