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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Vanderbilt University/Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (fall 2020)

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Course name
Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Institution
Vanderbilt University
Instructor
Carwil Bjork-James
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Cultural Anthropology
Course dates
2020-08-24 00:00:00 UTC – 2020-12-11 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
30


Course description: Indigenous peoples have been intensely involved in struggles over their sovereign, legal, treaty, and human rights for centuries. This course looks at these efforts in the Americas from the people-to-people treaty making to the rise of local and transnational indigenous movements in the second half of the twentieth century. We will consider how indigenous peoples both respond to legal frameworks and press their positions into national and international human rights standards, on issues ranging from governance to cultural survival, from environmental management to language policy.

Students will critically assess the place of indigenous people in North American history articles, help put indigenous people on the map in Wikipedia, and create or thoroughly revise a Wikipedia article relevant to a research project.

Main article writing goal: Your goal for this assignment is to produce a page that meets the Good Article criteria (WP:GA?). That page explains these criteria, which can be summarized as well-written, with a defined structure, well-researched, broad in its coverage, and neutral. Your final article should be comprehensive and engaging without being excessively detailed. Length is not the primary criterion for judging your work, but contributions of fewer than 2,000 words of added or thoroughly revised prose are inadequately short. Wikipedia recommends that their articles not exceed 40 thousand characters (roughly 8,000 words).

Please note that all assignments are due by SUNDAY NIGHT at the end of the assigned week. (Even though, for now, the calendar system uses Sunday to Saturday weeks.)

The Wikipedia Project Assignment sheet is on Brightspace and also avaliable here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eqofkuo7mqrl8nr/Wikipedia%20Project%20Assignment%202020.pdf?dl=0

Some resources for researching and writing on this topic are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Carwil/Indigenous_Rights_Resources

Writing advice: The Perfect Wikipedia Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_perfect_article | Writing Better Articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles

Student Assigned Reviewing
Chief Lucy Storytelling, Indigenous Storytelling in North America Native American peoples of Oregon, Patricia Locke
Charleston Baker Sexual victimization of Native American women Native American peoples of Oregon, Mystic massacre
Davidto2001 Indigenous Agriculture and the affects of colonialization
Katey.P Indigenous land conflicts on the Mexico–United States barrier Cleveland Indigenous activism, Columbus Quincentenary
Miaonl Cleveland indigenous activism, Cleveland Indigenous activism Columbus Quincentenary, Indigenous land conflicts on the Mexico–United States barrier
Bh597 Hassanamisco Nipmuc Indigenous intellectual property, Climate Change and indigenous people, Nenets people
Emma.Fagan Native American peoples of Oregon User:Peterpietri/Nacotchtank, User:Marylecesne/sandbox
Schoenjr Patricia Locke, Indigenous Language Institute Native American peoples of Oregon, Nenets people
Geec22 Nenets people
Don'tTakeYourselfTooSeriously European colonization of the Americas Native Hawaiians, Sexual victimization of Native American women
JRVU12345 History of Native Americans in the United States, Aboriginal history of Western Australia, Battle of Sand Butte
Peterpietri Nacotchtank Colonial Disease in Hawai'i, Illinois confederation
Martinezwhite Moxviquil Battle of Sand Butte, Illinois confederation
Kdotlamar39 Native Americans in film Mystic massacre, Native Hawaiians
Marylecesne Indian burial ground trope Nenets people, Sexual victimization of Native American women
Kardon99 Columbus Quincentenary Cleveland Indigenous activism, Indigenous land conflicts on the Mexico–United States barrier
Digit2334 Violence against women in the United States Storytelling, Moxviquil
J3nn!f3rros3 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians Storytelling, Climate change and indigenous peoples
Gabby223 Colonial Disease in Hawai'i, Colonial epidemic disease in Hawai'i Barrow Duck-In, Climate change and indigenous peoples, Violence against indigenous women (colonial to present United States)
Shadamss Indigenous intellectual property Climate change and indigenous peoples, Hassanamisco Nipmuc
Stringam Barrow Duck-In, The Barrow Duck-In Colonial Disease in Hawai'i, Cleveland Indigenous activism
Emilyc12345678 Chickasaw Nation Clayoquot protests, Native Hawaiians
Jakobfree1 Mystic massacre Clayoquot protests
Jamesignatowich
Caquaile Native Hawaiians Hassanamisco Nipmuc, Sexual victimization of Native American women
Wilentja Climate change and indigenous peoples
Gloriasiyoungkoo Illinois confederation Colonial Disease in Hawai'i, Nenets people
Jcichoke Clayoquot protests Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, Cleveland Indigenous activism

Timeline

Week 2

Course meetings
Wednesday, 2 September 2020
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.)

When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate’s Talk page.

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 7 September 2020   |   Wednesday, 9 September 2020
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

 It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.


  • Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
  • Choose an article, and consider some questions (but don't feel limited to these): 
    • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
    • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
    • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
    • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
    • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
    • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
    • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  • Consider these concerns raised in the Merrell article. Identify a place on Wikipedia where they apply.
    • "The root of the problem lies in the very words used to tell stories about olden times." 
    • "Maps accompanying the new work do similar damage by making

America look sparsely populated." (466)

    • "scholarly obliteration of indigenous farming" (471)
    • "indigenous peoples were sovereign nations, it is remarkable how often ordinary usage reinforces a contrary view … by accepting European (and, later, American) talk of ruling peoples and territories." (479)
    • "It is getting well ahead of the story to declare that Tuscaroras were ‘living in North Carolina’ rather than in Tuscarora territory." (482)
    • "Making every Native man a warrior tints Indian-colonial relations red." (486)
    • "despite a wealth of work proving otherwise (to say nothing of land claims lawsuits, popular powwows, and crowded casinos), they are removed as surely as if they actually had been eliminated two hundred years ago" (507)
  • Choose at least one of the questions above, and at least one (ideally, two or three) of Merrell's points about writing history that are relevant to the article you're evaluating. Leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — Stringam (talk) 20:06, 13 December 2020 (UTC).[reply]


In class - Discussion

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 14 September 2020   |   Wednesday, 16 September 2020
In class - Optional
Add an indigenous-inclusive map to an article on Wikipedia
Assignment - Add to an article

Your goal in this assignment is to add one to three cited sentences to an article. You may choose to either edit the article that you critiqued in Week 3, or an article related to the place you are working on for the Land Acknowledgement segment, due next week.

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 21 September 2020   |   Wednesday, 23 September 2020
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Possible article topics include indigenous peoples’ organizations, aspects of indigenous rights, notable controversies and struggles, historical events and people, and relevant laws and policies. Students are strongly encouraged to relate their article choice to their desired group research project. You may choose to improve one segment of an article and create a subarticle on the topic as described below. If a high-quality (B-class or above) article already exists for your topic, there is simply no room for you to demonstrate the same kind of contribution to Wikipedia as other students, and you must choose a different article to work on.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6


In class - Discussion

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 28 September 2020   |   Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Assignment - Exercise

You must post a bibliography of at least ten sources you plan to use to your talk page
or the article’s talk page by next week, but if you have sources now, posting them would be great.

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 5 October 2020   |   Wednesday, 7 October 2020
In class - Consider these resource in your editing and writing process…

 

 


Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9


Guide(s) for writing articles in your topic area

Cultural Anthropology (important side note: some parts of ethnographies are great reliable sources and others should be carefully attributed. Ask me in class about the differences if you are using an ethnography as a source.)

History

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

First checkpoint requirements:

  • Write an initial lead section and a complete outline of the article (using section headers of various levels) and post it to your userspace.
  • You must post a bibliography of at least ten sources you plan to use to somewhere in your userspace (preferred), or on the article’s talk page. Provide the reference information, not just weblinks.

Week 8

Course meetings
Monday, 12 October 2020   |   Wednesday, 14 October 2020
In class - Complete draft of your aticle (Second Checkpoint)

Post a complete draft of your aticle (later modifications and expansions are permitted). Refer to the assignment sheet for overall advice and resources.

Your goal for this assignment is to produce a page that meets the Good Article criteria (WP:GA?). That page explains these criteria, which can be summarized as well-written, with a defined structure, well-researched, broad in its coverage, and neutral. For technical reasons, we won’t be requiring that the article be illustrated (criterion 6), although you may add images if you wish. Your article won’t be judged on its stability from conflicting edits (criterion 5) either. As something of fall-back, read the B-class criteria on WP:ASSESS, as a minimum standard. (To see each level in detail, you will have to click the [show] links.)

If you are expanding one section of an article, you are strongly advised to write a multi-paragraph summary and then expand the section into a sub-article as explained on WP:SUMMARY. You’ll use a little trick called {{Main}} to link one to the other, which I can demonstrate in class.

Second checkpoint requirements:

  • Your draft article is clearly written and supported by referenced facts. There is an overall outline of sections and subsections that makes sense for the article and that describes major aspects of the topic (even if those sections have not been fully written yet).
  • Your first-draft version of the article has a lead that complies with WP:LEAD.
  • Your draft article should include specific facts directly referenced to at least five of these sources.


In class - Discussion

Week 9

Course meetings
Monday, 19 October 2020   |   Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Use this guided framework step by step. While you are here to be encouraging, the most important gifts you can give your classmates are your clear impressions, your evaluations on ALL of the suggested criteria, and helpful suggestions for improvement.Guiding framework

Milestones

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

Week 10

Course meetings
Monday, 26 October 2020   |   Wednesday, 28 October 2020
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.


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

Week 11

Course meetings
Monday, 2 November 2020   |   Wednesday, 4 November 2020
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.

Week 12

Course meetings
Monday, 9 November 2020   |   Wednesday, 11 November 2020
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 13

Course meetings
Monday, 16 November 2020   |   Wednesday, 18 November 2020
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!

Week 14

Course meetings
Monday, 30 November 2020   |   Wednesday, 2 December 2020
Milestones

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

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