(Re)Writing "Feminism in Canada": Wikipedia in the Feminist Classroom

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(Re)Writing "Feminism in Canada": Wikipedia in the Feminist Classroom
Authors
Alana Cattapan
Publication date
2012
DOI
10.5406/femteacher.22.2.0125
Links
Original

(Re)Writing "Feminism in Canada": Wikipedia in the Feminist Classroom - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2012, written by Alana Cattapan.

Overview

In the winter of 2012, the students in my fourth-year seminar, The Politics of the Canadian Women’s Movement, undertook the project of editing, updating, and expanding a number of Wikipedia articles, including the page on “Feminism in Canada.” Though it often serves as a first point of reference for research on Canadian feminism, this Wikipedia page had long been underdeveloped, overlooking significant historical events, recent contributions, and the work of feminists outside of the English-speaking, white, middleclass mainstream. Students collaborated over the course of the term with the intent to generate content for an improved page that would more accurately communicate historical and contemporary realities. This article chronicles the theory behind and practice of doing this assignment with my students. It argues that although it is not perfect, using Wikipedia in the university classroom offers a useful site to employ feminist pedagogical principles by enabling students to collaboratively and meaningfully engage with one another and a broader public. To do so, the article begins by exploring the principles of feminist pedagogy, and how technologies like Wikipedia contest or support such principles. It then describes how my students and Author undertook this project, followed by an assessment of the project’s benefits and the challenges it raised. The article concludes by extending an invitation to feminist activists and academics to employ Wikipedia in their own classrooms, both as a means to realize feminist pedagogical goals and to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of feminist issues.