Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Carleton University/Topics in Cinema and Gender (Fall 2015)

Week 1

 * Overview of the course
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.

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Handout: Editing Wikipedia


 * Create an account and sign up for the Wiki Edu Course Dashboard.
 * 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 to another student on their user talk page.
 * Explore Wikipedia entries about film directors, cinematographers, writers, and related jobs to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized.

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Resources: Online Training for Students

Week 2
By Wednesday, September 9, 5pm, all students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.


 * Discuss strategies for finding a filmmaker and finding independent sources
 * Discuss the most common reasons that new Wikipedia entries get taken down


 * Explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

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Handouts: and


 * Start researching and find some women and transgender filmmakers who either do not appear on Wikipedia or have only a short &quot;stub&quot; entry.
 * Once you've decided on a filmmaker, go to the dashboard course page and list the filmmaker's name under the &quot;Students&quot; tab. (Make sure that no one else has already chosen this filmmaker first.)

* Once you've found at least two independent sources, you should submit the following information to cuLearn: your username, the name of your filmmaker, and list the two sources.
You may choose someone from any time period and any country. If you can read a language (or languages) other than English, I encourage you to use sources written in those languages.

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Here are some places to look for filmmakers:


 * Books about women filmmakers, such as:
 * Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Women Film Directors: An International Bio-Critical Dictionary (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995)
 * Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Women Filmmakers of the African and Asian Diaspora (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1997)
 * Barbara Quart, Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema (New York: Praeger, 1988)
 * Janis L. Pallister and Ruth A. Hottell, Noteworthy Francophone Women Directors: A Sequel (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011)
 * Gabrielle Kelly and Cheryl Robson, Celluloid Ceiling: Women Directors Breaking Through (Twickenham: Supernova Books, 2014)
 * Patricia White, Women's Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms (Durham: Duke University Press, 2015)
 * Mary G. Hurd, Women Directors and Their Films (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007)
 * Judith M. Redding and Victoria A. Brownworth, Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors (Seattle: Seal Press, 1997)
 * And more!
 * Websites about women filmmakers, such as:
 * The Women Film Pioneers Project
 * 84 Films By and About Women of Color
 * African Women in Cinema Blog
 * The Director List: Women Directors at Work
 * MUBI List of Films Directed by Women, by Ally the Manic Listmaker
 * Pinterest List of Women Directors, by Destri Martino
 * Sight &amp; Sound info on Women Filmmakers
 * Lists of Wikipedia &quot;stubs&quot;:
 * Film Director Stubs
 * Screenwriter Stubs
 * Film Producer Stubs
 * Cinematographer Stubs
 * Film Editor Stubs
 * List of Wikipedia requested articles
 * Make an appointment with the MadOdrum Film Librarian, [mailto:Alana.Skwarok@undefinedcarleton.ca Alana Skwarok]
 * Trans filmmakers are harder to find, so you'll have to be creative!

You must find at least two substantial, independent sources written about the filmmaker (and ideally more). Interviews, film festival blurbs, and the filmmaker's own website do not count, although you can use them in addition to the independent sources.

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Research tools: * MacOdrum Library * MacOdrum's Film Studies Databases * Wikipedia Resources for Writing about Film * Media History Digital Library * Library and Archives Canada * TIFF Film Reference Library * National Film Board of Canada * Google Scholar * Google News

Remember: All contributions to Wikipedia must be properly cited, just like an academic essay, so keep track of where you get your information! Sources must be both independent and reputable. That means that the subject’s own website is NOT considered a reliable source, nor is IMDB.

If you run in to trouble, make an appointment with the MadOdrum Film Librarian, [mailto:Alana.Skwarok@undefinedcarleton.ca Alana Skwarok]

Week 3
All students have started looking for a filmmaker and finding sources about that filmmaker

Week 4
By Wednesday, September 23 at 5pm, all students have posted the following information to cuLearn (under &quot;Assignment&quot;): Their username; the name of their filmmaker, and two or more independent sources on the filmmaker. Students have also signed up to write about their filmmaker on the Dashboard.


 * Craft a complete first draft of your article, including references, in your sandbox.
 * You must add a minimum of 500 new words of prose about your filmmaker. You should also add lists (such as filmography, awards, etc.), but this will not be counted as part of your word count.
 * Make sure to include a robust lead paragraph at the beginning of the article. State the person's achievements clearly but dispassionately, so that it doesn't come off as promotional. (This is particularly important with living persons.)
 * Use a lot of citations to independent sources so that your page doesn't get taken down.
 * I recommend keeping a backup copy of your draft on Word in case you experience technical difficulties (this is very rare, but it happens).

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Please use existing Wikipedia headings. Those in bold below are mandatory; others are optional. * Early Life and Education or Biography * Career * Legacy * Filmography * Awards and Nominations (if relevant) * References * Further Reading * External Links

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 * What I'm looking for when I eventually grade your article: The (as near as possible) Perfect Article
 * Wikipedia Policy on Biographies of living persons
 * Guidelines for Writing Biographies from Project Biography
 * Guidelines for Writing about Filmmakers from WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers


 * Move your sandbox article into main space.
 * 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 &quot;Moving out of your sandbox&quot; handout.
 * 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.

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Handout:


 * 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.)

Week 5

 * Every student has posted first drafts to mainspace
 * Every student has signed up to review two articles by classmates


 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

Week 6
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles by Weds, Sept 7.


 * 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.


 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
 * Make sure that your page links to other pages and that other pages link to yours. List your page on pages like: Canadian film directors, female filmmakers, Indian woman film directors, Hong Kong film directors, Silent film directors, Academy Award winners, Independent Spirit nominees, etc. The goal is to embed these people’s achievements in as many cross-references as possible!

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Handout:


 * Write a short essay (~300-500 words) in which you reflect on this assignment. You should answer questions such as:
 * What was the most difficult part of the assignment?
 * What was the most interesting part of the assignment?
 * What did you think of the Wiki Edu Dashboard?
 * How could I improve this assignment for next year?
 * What was the difference between writing for Wikipedia and the writing you do in most other college assignments?
 * What did you learn by doing this assignment?
 * Post the essay and a link to the live Wikipedia article to the cuLearn course website under &quot;Assignments.&quot;

Week 7
By Wednesday, October 14 at 5pm, students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.