User:Theologus~enwiki

/Norman Anonymous

Who I am
I'm a medievalist who teaches at an American University in Theological Studies. I have been a professor for over 10 years and I have taught at universities in Canada, the United Kingdom and now the USA. I am also a digital geek and my research includes the production of multi-media projects (both text and image).

Why I contribute to Wikipedia
I contribute to Wikipedia with great hesitation and a deep sense of skepticism. I suppose I am capitulating to the work habits of the millenium student: if they are going to use Wikipedia, I might as help to make it as accurate and rigorous as possible. And, if I help write the thing, it becomes a bit easier to recognise those who plagiarize using Wikipedia. :-)

As skeptical as I am, I am a strong believer in the democratization of knowledge, just as long as I don't have to buy into the notion that widening access to learning means making things simpler or easy. My job during the day is to help men and women fall in love with the Middle Ages (and especially its religious history and theological ideas), but that means showing the cool stuff as much as its warts and nasty bits. That is neither simple nor easy. History is fascinating not because it can be told like a 2 hour TV drama, but because it encapsulates all the complexity of being human and what it means to relate to fellow human beings and the wider world--as well as the Divine.

What I've contributed
I have started to revise entries on theologians (many are categorized as philosophers in Wikipedia) from my small part of the historical world. Most of these entries have been drawn from public domain articles and so contain many outdated assertions or need updating in light of more recent scholarship. I might move on to thematic articles, provided I ever get the time.