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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Georgetown University/WRIT 015-12- Banned and Challenged Books (Fall 2019)

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Course name
WRIT 015-12- Banned and Challenged Books
Institution
Georgetown University
Instructor
Lisbeth Fuisz
Wikipedia Expert
Shalor (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Writing and Culture
Course dates
2019-08-29 00:00:00 UTC – 2019-12-28 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
16


This class examines censorship in U.S. public schools and libraries. Hundreds of challenges are made yearly to texts for containing sexually explicit material, violence, homosexuality, anti-family sentiment, offensive language and Satanic themes, amongst others. This class will explore what is at stake in these arguments over appropriate reading materials. Students will share their growing knowledge about book censorship with a wider audience through their contributions to Wikipedia.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Megan rose28 Skippyjon Jones
Poph55 Donnie Darko
Baileybane William's Doll
Chase Jablon The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Bearkl Treaty rights
Sakare2000 The House on Mango Street
Jmucks Influx of disease in the Caribbean
Isabelleb10 Looking for Alaska
Oliviab219 George (novel)
Vabro Bone (comics)
Cmoon27 Chicana/o studies
Obaggott06 The handmaid's tale
Gkhaner What the Constitution Means to Me
Jlongarzo The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film)

Timeline

Week 4

Course meetings
Tuesday, 17 September 2019   |   Thursday, 19 September 2019
Assignment - 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.) Complete prior to class on 9/17/19.

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 24 September 2019   |   Thursday, 26 September 2019
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia

Exercise - Please complete in class on 9/26. Worth 20 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase One if completed on time.

Evaluate an article


Assignment - Locating Articles

   1.     Identify 5 articles on Wikipedia that are related to the controversial children's literature discussed by Alyson Miller, Jamie Campbell Naidoo, or that are listed on American Library Associations' yearly compilation of most challenged books, found at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 . Prior to class on Thursday, compile and post the names of these five Wikipedia articles to the Canvas discussion called “List of Wikipedia articles related to controversial children's or young adult literature. Give the Wikipedia article title plus a link. Class members will look at these lists for suggestions of articles to edit during class on Thursday. This is a Wikipedia Project, Phase One activity and it is worth 10 points.

 

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 1 October 2019   |   Thursday, 3 October 2019

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 8 October 2019   |   Thursday, 10 October 2019
In class - Discussion

What's a content gap?

In class - Evaluating an article related to Tucson controversy

Use the following questions to evaluate the Wikipedia article you selected related to the Tucson Controversy/Rethinking Columbus. Put the evaluation in your Wikipedia sandbox (the page labeled User:your username/sandbox). Add a section to the sandbox with a title indicating which article you are evaluating. Finish the evaluation prior to class on 10/10/19. This is worth 30 points if completed on time as part of Wikipedia Project, Phase One.

 

Evaluating content

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added? Identify content gaps.

What else could be improved?


Evaluating tone

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

 

Evaluating sources

Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

 

Checking the talk page

Now take a look at how others are talking about this article on the talk page.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?


How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?


Assignment - Adding Citations training - Complete before class on Thursday 10/10/19

Worth 20 points towards Wikipedia Project, Phase One if completed on time.

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 15 October 2019   |   Thursday, 17 October 2019

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 October 2019   |   Thursday, 24 October 2019

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 29 October 2019   |   Thursday, 31 October 2019

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 November 2019   |   Thursday, 7 November 2019

Week 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 November 2019   |   Thursday, 14 November 2019

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 November 2019   |   Thursday, 21 November 2019
Assignment - Start drafting your contributions

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

Each training iss worth 20 points towards your Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade. Please complete prior to the start of class 11/21/19.

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

Milestones

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

Week 15

Course meetings
Tuesday, 3 December 2019   |   Thursday, 5 December 2019
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 - Continue improving your article

Exercise

Add links to 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 - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

Please complete the two trainings by the beginning of class on Thursday, Dec. 5. Each training is worth 20 points towards your Wikipedia Project, Phase One grade.

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

Week 16

Course meetings
Tuesday, 10 December 2019   |   Thursday, 12 December 2019
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!


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!
Milestones

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