Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/University of Toronto/Utopia Interrupted Late and Post-Soviet Russian Literature (Spring)

The course will examine the literary and cultural production in the late and post-Soviet periods, examining both well-known works of fiction, poetry, film, and visual art.

From the syllabus:

In this first-year seminar, we will try to find the key by examining canonical literary and cinematic works from the post-Stalin era to the present, which express the contradictions and tensions of Soviet society during those times. The main question, to which we will return many times: what kind of contradictions does a given work express? For instance, the Soviet Union was supposed to be an egalitarian society, but in fact featured many inequalities along class, gender, and ethnic lines. Emigration was supposed to solve the problem of Soviet alienation, but frequently resulted in a dual diasporic condition and profound nostalgia. The collapse of the USSR was supposed to usher in a new age of freedom and democracy, but instead precipitated new wars, corruption, and economic inequalities. Each week of our course will be structured around a single theme, such as Gulag, intelligentsia, gender, emigration, Perestroika, Putin’s Russia, and migrant workers, that we will explore in both primary and secondary sources.

We will use Wiki Education resources to write, adjust, and re-write entries that fall within the parameters of this topic. Specifically, we will meet many cultural figures that are not yet included in Wikipedia and I thought that it would be a good opportunity to rectify this.

Week 2
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 4
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 6
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Guiding framework

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.

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

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 7
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!

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