This course will investigate the role of women artist in the major movements in Western art from the Middle Ages to Postmodernism. We will examine whether and how art and gender intersect in their careers. We will consider the ways women artists are written into, and out of, history: many artists who are little-known today had considerable renown in their own time! This class will contribute to an ongoing effort to improve the coverage of women artists in Wikipedia by asking you to critique, edit, and expand relevant entries.
Timeline edit
Week Two edit
- Create a Wikipedia user account
- Start the on-line student orientation to Wikipedia: Wikipedia:Student
- Read and analyze Wiki articles on Hildegard of Bingen, Herrad of Landsberg, and Christine de Pizan.
Week Three edit
- Complete the on-line student orientation
- For Chadwick Ch. 2 and all subsequent chapters, look at the Wikipedia entries on the artists discussed. Analyze their quality: focus on comprehensiveness, citations, neutrality of point of view.
- Create a user page: Wikipedia:User pages
- Join the list of students on the course page
- Leave a message for a classmate on her user talk page
- Preview the FemTechNet video "Editing on Wikipedia": http://vimeo.com/64973792
Week Four edit
- Understand what "notability" means in deciding whether a topic rates a Wikipedia article: Wikipedia:Notability
- Critically evaluate an existing Wikipedia article on a woman artist. You may decide that your article is exemplary–explain why.
- Research and list 3-5 articles on your user page that you may edit.
Week Five edit
- Read the Wiki page on acceptable sources: Wikipedia:Acceptable sources
- Understand what "verifiable" and "published" mean with regard to sources: Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
Week Six edit
- Read the Wiki page on plagiarism: Wikipedia:Plagiarism
- Add 1-2 sentences of new information with a citation to one of the articles you've selected to edit
Week Seven edit
- Select the article you will edit. You should plan to add at least four paragraphs to the entry, with in-line citations for verifiable sources
- Assemble a bibliography of acceptable sources
- Hand in an outline or description of your planned edits and your bibliography
Week Nine edit
- Write a summary of the content you intend to add on the talk page of your selected article
- Begin to edit the article in your sandbox: Help:My sandbox
Week Ten edit
- Add images to your article from Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
- Continue to work on your editing
Week Eleven edit
- Select two of your classmates' articles to peer review
- Does the article have a lead section giving an overview of the subject? Does it have a clear organization? Is the coverage balanced? Is the content neutral? Are the sources reliable?
- Add your suggestions to the talk page of your classmate's article
Week Twelve edit
- Revise your article based on your peers' suggestions
- For discussion, think about neutrality, information and media literacy, and the strengths and weaknesses of Wikipedia
- Hand in an evaluation of your experience editing Wikipedia