Wikipedia:School and university projects/Englishness and Cricket

Introduction
In the two weeks beginning on March 11, 2013, students in Hofstra University HUHC class In Search of England will be reading a number of texts addressing the cultural history of cricket, most importantly Dominic Malcolm's Globalizing Cricket (2013), which addresses themes such as the emergence of the sport as a national game in the 19th century; the relationship between cricket and empire; cricket in America, the Caribbean nations, and Ireland; and changing notions of Englishness and 'otherness' in the present day. They will also be watching a film called Fire in Babylon which addresses the role of West Indian cricket in relation to the old imperial metropolis, England. To intellectually 'process' this reading, and to integrate their viewing of the film, students are asked to edit and improve a number of existing Wikipedia pages, and create some new ones.

There is no restriction on which pages students may modify. One requirement, however, is that all students will be asked to develop existing/new pages on The Duckworth–Lewis method, a concept album about cricket. Students are also encouraged to write on the film Fire in Babylon

Goals

 * The main goal of this exercise is to encourage students to "process" the reading and film material in a way which is innovative, intellectually rigorous, and valuable beyond the classroom.


 * By integrating academic scholarship, film, and music, the exercise will offer an interdisiciplinary variety of avenues towards understanding Englishness, and its relationship to other identities.


 * Students will have a good preparation for writing the second paper of the semester, which will address sport (and especially cricket) as a prism for analyzing national identity.

Key wikipedia pages
These pages provide a starting point for students' work.


 * Cricket in England
 * Cricket in the West Indies
 * Cricket


 * English national identity


 * The Duckworth Lewis Method
 * Individual songs on the album, including "The Age of Revolution"


 * Fire in Babylon

Statistics
You can find out how many views the various articles get by searching this site

Talking
One important facet of the assignment is discussion and comment, among and between members of the class. This will take place on the "Talk" page that accompanies each main Wikipedia page (instructions will be provided in class). Like the actual modifications you make to the Wikipedia pages, your willingness to engage in open and constructive discussion will count towards your class participation grade.

Ready to Bat?
Sign up here for the HUHC Englishness seminar 'team'. (It's the age of revolution!). Your can add your name by editing the project page with a small snippet of code which you will receive via email:



Reading about cricket
For Monday, 11 March, students are asked to read the introduction and chapters 1 and 2 of Globalizing Cricket, and to respond to these readings on Wikipedia; for Wednesday, 13 March, read chapters 3-5.