Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/George Washington University/Women in African History (Spring 2016)

HIST 3530W(10) CRN: 77127

This course explores themes and issues in the lives of women in Africa. Themes include women in early African history, culture and the role of gender in Africa, encounter with Islam and the West, women’s search for autonomy, etc. Emphasis is placed, as much as is possible, on the perspectives of women, how they view their history and their ongoing struggle for self-determination. The course includes readings from secondary texts, but devotes time to a body of primary sources and films illustrating the theme of the class. The class is structured through lectures and class discussions. Informed, engaged, and active participation is required of all students. It is therefore crucial that you keep up with your assignments, attend class regularly, and complete all assignments on time.

Week 1

 * Overview of the project and how it might fit in with your larger course projects.

Handout: Editing Wikipedia


 * Begin the training modules assigned for your course. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.


 * Research 3–5 articles that you will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing.
 * After consideration, select the article topic you will be working on and assign yourself that article on the students tab above.
 * Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 2

 * Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.
 * Evaluate your Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.  If you are creating a new article, find an article on a similar subject and evaluate its quality. Then use that learning to create your new article next week.
 * A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Resources: Evaluating Wikipedia,

Week 3

 * Add 1-2 new sources of information to the article you critiqued OR create a new article using 3-5 new sources.
 * Add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to your article. If you are creating a new article, you will need to add 1-2 new paragraphs of information following the guidelines in these trainings.

Week 4

 * If your article would benefit from illustration, create or find an appropriate photo, illustration, or audio/video, and add it to the article.
 * All media uploaded to Wikipedia must fall under a &quot;free license,&quot; which means they can be used or shared by anyone. Examples of media you can use are photos that you take yourself, images and text in the public domain, and works created by someone else who has given permission for their work to be used by others. For more information about which types of media can be uploaded to Wikipedia, see Commons:Help desk.
 * To add a media file to an article, you must first upload it to Wikimedia Commons. For instructions on how to upload files to Commons, refer to Illustrating Wikipedia. This brochure will also provide you with detailed information about which files are acceptable to upload to Wikipedia and the value of contributing media to Wikipedia articles.


 * Write a reflective essay (2–3 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.