Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Pennsylvania/Food in the Islamic Middle East (Spring 2023)

This seminar approaches past and present Middle Eastern and North African societies through the study of food. The Islamic Middle East claims a rich internal history of scholarship on food, along with an illustrious tradition of cookbook-writing that began with Arabic works like Kitab al-Tabikh (“The Book of Cooking”) by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, who lived in Baghdad more than a thousand years ago. Scholars today are continuing to write in engaging and cutting-edge ways about food in the region, and we will read a broad sampling of new works. Some of our readings will be comparative, focusing on other parts of the world in ways that can help us to think about Middle Eastern parallels. Some will examine history on the world stage, enabling us to see more clearly the Middle East within global networks.

Our studies of food will cover several overlapping topics and themes. These themes include labor (the work behind food production and preparation); religion; gender; nationalism; migration; status, hierarchy, and class; business; contestation and conflict (including identity politics); medicine and health; trade and transport; access and deprivation; environment and agriculture; value, symbolism, and prestige; place (i.e., where food production and consumption happen and reflect local settings); and tradition and authenticity. We will consider the sensory history of food, too, especially vis-à-vis taste and smell, and food’s material history (e.g., the history of objects like forks and teacups).

In this class we will learn how to write for Wikipedia by following tutorials and working together to develop and publish a new article. Goals include (1) making us think about what it means to write in different “literary registers,” striking different tones for different audiences; (2) prompting us to consider what it means to produce “public-facing” scholarship; (3) giving us an opportunity for collaborative research, and practice in improving our writing through revision; and (4) heightening our awareness of what is present and absent on Wikipedia, and of how we can contribute by filling in content gaps.

Week 3
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.

Week 5
Add a comment to the talk page of the article you pick.

Biographies

History

Week 7
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

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 8
Guiding framework

Week 9
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 10
We will continue to revise and improve our article, and asses if it is ready to move it to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 11
Now's the time to revisit our text and refine our work. We 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 12
It's the final week to develop our 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!

Week 13
Reflection Essay: (250 words): To post on our Canvas discussion board: Respond to the following: What did you learn from our work on Wikipedia? What did you enjoy? What surprised you?