Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Bowdoin College/Religions of the African Atlantic (Spring 2019)

This course considers how people in Africa and the African Diaspora encounter the divine. Over the course of the semester, students study African and African-inspired religions from the perspective of those who practice them. Topics covered include religious ontologies wherein divinities and spirits are active presences; historical explorations of how religions have linked Africans to counterparts across the Atlantic for more than 400 years; religious contact and mixture; and Afro–Atlantic peoples’ contributions to global Christianity, Islam, and other world religions.

For this Wikipedia assignment, you will get a closer look at some aspect of the course that interests you, dig deep into that topic, and find some slice of it to expand and write about on Wikipedia. By the end of the assignment, you should have a better understanding of your topic of interest, and you should be able to describe the key points about it to a general audience of Wikipedia's readers.

This project will take focus and commitment, but this page will break things down into steps that will give you the chance to think critically about how you want to identify and write about your topic. Each of these activities represents an important step toward creating a quality contribution to Wikipedia, so it's important that you do each step in order and on time. Cumulatively, this project is worth 45% of your final grade (20% for the individual steps and 25% for the final article you submit). You will receive full credit for the small assignments as long as you complete them thoughtfully and do them on time. The grade for your final article will be based on a rubric you will receive in class.

Week 6
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Exercise
Evaluate an article

Thinking about sources and plagiarism

Exercise
Choose a topic

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

What's a content gap?

Exercise
Add a citation

Finalize your topic / Find your sources

Week 10
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Art History

Cultural Anthropology

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 11
Look through Featured articles and Good articles on Wikipedia. Find one that covers a topic similar to your own. Use it as a template to help you identify which aspects of your topic you should cover and how you might wish to do so.

Guiding framework

Thinking about Wikipedia

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
 * Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Week 12
Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Nominating your article for Did You Know

Exercise
Add links to your article

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 14
It's the final week to develop your article.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
 * Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Guiding questions

Week 15
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.