Workshop | October 24 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m. | Dwinelle Hall, Academic Innovation Studio, 117 Dwinelle Hall (also on Zoom)
Helaine Blumenthal, Senior Program Manager, Wikipedia Student Program, Wiki Education Foundation; Andrés Vera, Equity Outreach Coordinator, Wiki Education Foundation; Victoria Robinson, Director, The American Cultures Center; Corliss Lee, American Cultures Librarian, University Library
American Cultures, Library, Wiki Education Foundation
This is the lunch segment of "Teaching with Wikipedia," a three-part series workshop on October 24th from 10a-2p.
Wikipedia is the go-to source for information for much of the world, but few understand its inner workings, and even fewer still contribute to it, even though it's the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It's not an exaggeration to say that Wikipedia plays a central role in today's information landscape, and it might seem that it's relatively complete, with more than six million articles on the English Wikipedia. Impressive though this number may be, Wikipedia is a dynamic enterprise in need of constant updating and expansion. Nowhere is this more true than subjects related to historically marginalized and underrepresented populations, regions, and topic areas. You and your students can play a critical role in ensuring that Wikipedia is up-to-date, reliable, and above all, equitable.
From its inception, Wikipedia has striven to represent the sum total of human knowledge, but it's often fallen short when it comes to topics that have been left out of the record. The most glaring example of this is Wikipedia's Gender Gap - roughly only 20% of Wikipedia's biographies are about women. Astonishing though this number may be, it's only one example of the challenges Wikipedia faces in terms of knowledge equity.
You and your students, though, can make a real difference in making Wikipedia a more equitable space. Not only can your students improve content, but by contributing to Wikipedia, they will also diversify Wikipedia's editor base. Who creates knowledge is as important as the knowledge itself when it comes to access and equity.
Faculty, Students - Graduate
Faculty, Students - Graduate
RSVP online by October 19.
Douglas Parada, dparada@berkeley.edu, 510-664-7065