Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Lafayette College/The Politics and Practice of History (Spring 2019)
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- Course name
- The Politics and Practice of History
- Institution
- Lafayette College
- Instructor
- Rachel Goshgarian
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- The Politics and Practice of History
- Course dates
- 2019-01-28 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-05-10 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 16
This course trains students in the skills, methods, philosophies, and practices of the discipline of history. Students learn how the practice of history has changed over time, the problems and potential of historical evidence, the implications of different political uses of history, and the role history plays in forming structures of individual and collective awareness. In addition, students will become familiar with the various sub-disciplines of history, and learn about the institutional structures and disciplinary practices that characterize and distinguish academic, public, and popular history. Strong emphasis will be placed on learning key research, writing, and analytical skills. Potential history majors should take this course in their sophomore year.
With this exercise, we will be using the knowledge we have acquired of history writing primarily in order to write wikipedia entries for specific collections in our library. The goal will be to give a history of the collection, its provenance, the historical context of the collection, when and where it has been used in order to help historians write about the past, and comparable collections elsewhere and how those have been used in order to help historians. (Some students may also choose to write wikipedia pages related to specific programs or buildings at Lafayette College.)
Timeline
Week 10
- Course meetings
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- Wednesday, 3 April 2019
- 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:
- Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- 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.)
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- In class - Discussion
Week 11
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 8 April 2019 | Wednesday, 10 April 2019
- Assignment - Exercise
- In class - Discussion
- Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area
Week 12
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 15 April 2019 | Wednesday, 17 April 2019
- Assignment - Start drafting your contributions
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
Week 13
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 22 April 2019 | Wednesday, 24 April 2019
- Assignment - Peer review two articles
- 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 14
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 29 April 2019 | Wednesday, 1 May 2019
- 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 - Continue improving your article
Exercise
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 15
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 6 May 2019 | Wednesday, 8 May 2019
- 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
- Milestones
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.