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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Amherst/Women and Art in Early Modern Europe (Spring)

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Course name
Women and Art in Early Modern Europe
Institution
Amherst
Instructor
Nicola Courtright
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Art History
Course dates
2021-02-03 00:00:00 UTC – 2021-05-22 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
10


This introductory discussion-based course will examine how prevailing ideas about women and gender shaped visual imagery in Europe from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, and how these images, in turn, presented surprisingly varied pictures of women and their domains. Artists vividly expressed the paradoxical power that women possessed even more than language could. Both admired and feared in their societies, aristocrats, queens, mistresses, saints, witches, heroines, and housewives were all depicted in art in elevated and debased manners, sometimes as eroticized subjects and at other times as powerful, idealized actors—occasionally both at the same time. We will analyze the art and material goods that women paid for and what it communicated about them; women’s homes and the objects they held; the portrayal of women from merchant societies in Italian city-states to aristocratic women in India, of female saints, heroes and rulers, including Elizabeth I of England and Maria de' Medici of France; and the troubling imagery of rape. These different types of art raise questions about biological theories about women; feminine ideals of beauty; what marriage meant in different societies; the relationship between the exercise of political power and gender; women’s expression of transcendent spirituality; and what the portrayal of indigenous and enslaved women in Dutch and Spanish colonies conveyed about race. GOALS FOR LEARNING

• Understand how images are unique forms of expression that help us to understand historical phenomena; • Gain an understanding of how historical attitudes about women and by women affect art made about and by women; • Develop an analytical ability to examine points of view expressed in texts and art of a historical period other than our own and to distinguish them from another; • Learn collaboratively with classmates; • Learn how to perform 2 kinds of research: 1) find materials to contribute publicly useful scholarship, by creating or revising Wikipedia entries, which greatly lack material on women; 2) Develop and argue an original thesis in a 10-page research paper.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Adnsz Hairstyles in Renaissance Art
Annamhp Hurrem Sultan
AliceCeleste The Game of Chess (Sofonisba Anguissola)
Jihpaik Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt
Zatton17

Timeline

Week 2

Course meetings
Tuesday, 16 February 2021   |   Thursday, 18 February 2021
In class - Introduction to the Wikipedia assignment

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:

Assignment - Get started on 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.)

Assignment - Wikipedia assignment blog

Begin a blog about your experiences. You can use discussion questions to frame your entries, or reflect on the research and writing process. Create at least one blog entry each week during the Wikipedia assignment.

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
In class - Discussion

Week 3

Course meetings
Tuesday, 23 February 2021   |   Thursday, 25 February 2021
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

In class - Discussion

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 2 March 2021   |   Thursday, 4 March 2021
Assignment - Add to an article
Assignment - Exercise
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Art History

Biographies

Books

History

LGBT+ Studies

Women's Studies

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 9 March 2021   |   Thursday, 11 March 2021
Assignment - Peer review an article

Guiding framework

In class - Discussion
Milestones

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

Assignment - Respond to your peer review

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 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 16 March 2021   |   Thursday, 18 March 2021
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the "mainspace."

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Assignment - Exercise
Assignment - Continue improving your article

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.

Assignment - Polish your work

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

Course meetings
Tuesday, 23 March 2021   |   Thursday, 25 March 2021
Assignment - Final article

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!
In class - In-class presentation
Assignment - Original analytical paper

Write a paper going beyond your Wikipedia article to advance your own ideas, arguments, and original research about your topic.

Milestones

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