Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Western Washington University/History of Ancient Rome (Fall)

HIST 313 offers a general introduction to the political and cultural history of Ancient Rome from the Early Iron Age until the mid 1st millennium CE. This course will examine the political development of Rome—from monarchy to republic to empire—through both archaeological remains and textual sources. Topics addressed will include the foundation of Rome and the establishment of urban society, the development of literature and religion, republicanism and political philosophy, bureaucracy and state formation, imperialism and the principate, and western society’s obsession with the “Greatness of Rome.” Although this course is about Ancient Rome, we will spend considerable time discussing the relationship between the past and the present, and the role of modern agendas in the exploration and appropriation of Roman history.

The Wiki assignment will be the major research assignment of the quarter. Students will be expected to add/review/reorganize content on one of the available articles, as well as add images or graphics if possible. Topics selected will focus on individuals of the ancient world (artists, politicians, historical figures, religious or military leaders), as well as other important aspects of life in the ancient world (laws, festivals, aspects of daily life). Students will also participate in peer-review of their colleagues’ contributions (each student will review two contributions). At the end of the project students will also be responsible for submitting a short reflection on the exercise, as well as a research question, hypothesis, and one paragraph outline of a research project related to the Wikipedia topic.

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

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3
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.)

For more information on Plagiarism: How Plagiarism is Different on Wikipedia

Week 4
Everyone will have chosen their Wikipedia article.

History

Week 5
Try searching your topic in these online databases of primary sources:


 * Perseus Project (also has a great encyclopedia and image library)
 * Lacus Curtius (also has a great encyclopedia)

Here are some other helpful secondary source links:


 * Antony Kamm's, The Romans (Companion Site to the Textbook)
 * Stoa
 * Diotima (has an excellent online image resource section)
 * Classics Williams, Online Resources


 * don't forget to look at related Wikipedia articles that may have good resources or images


 * Harvard has a great overview of image copyright that includes links to popular databases of Public Domain and Creative Common's images (including Wikimedia Commons and Flickr).

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

For more information on Plagiarism:  How Plagiarism is Different on Wikipedia

Week 9
Guiding framework

Week 10
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'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.

Week 11
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!

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

Week 12
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.