Wiki: n. A collaborative Web site whose contents can be
edited by anyone who has access to it.
Wiki, meaning "quick" in Hawaiian, started in 1994 as
an effort to better facilitate the exchange of ideas between
computer programmers and has emerged largely as Wikipedia.com,
an American Web-based encyclopedic collaborative that grew
from 1,000 articles in 2001 to an astounding 8.29 million
articles in 253 languages to date.
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WIKIPEDIA WONKS: Eastern Michigan University's
College of Arts and Sciences hosts a Lecture Series,
"Wikipedia: The Democratization of Knowledge or
the
Triumph of Amateurs?" Marshall Tillbrook Poe
(pictured above) presents "Wikipedia: Academia's
Friend or Foe?" Thursday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m., room
201,
Pray-Harrold (Please note a location change has
occurred
since this poster was created).
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Given the volunteer nature of Wikipedia, the Web site
is often criticized for its amateurish nature, leading
often to hotly debated intellectual and philosophical discussions
worldwide about what constitutes knowledge, particularly
in the world of academia.
Those discussions are the subject of Eastern Michigan
University's College of Arts and Sciences 2007-2008 lecture
series, "Wikipedia: The Democratization of Knowledge or
The Triumph of Amateurs."
"We are thrilled to host this lecture series, the first
of its kind in the nation," said Linda Schott, associate
dean, College of Arts & Sciences.
The series is free, open to the public and all but the
first lecture will take place in the Student Center Auditorium.
Russian historian and Wikipedia devotee Marshall
Tillbrook Poe kicks off the series with "Wikipedia:
Academia's Friend or Foe?" Thursday,
Oct. 25, 7 p.m., room 201, Pray-Harrold.
Poe is the recipient of the 2008 M. Thelma McAndless Distinguished
Chair, an endowed appointment bequeathed by former EMU
English professor M. Thelma McAndless. The endowed chair
is designed to bring distinguished artists and scholars
in the humanities to the university. This year's McAndless
Scholar is sponsored by the department of history and philosophy,
and the department of English language and literature.
A professor of history at Iowa State University, Poe is
the 2008 McAndless Scholar and will be making periodic
visits to EMU during the year.
He previously had fellowships at the Davis Center for
Russian Studies (Harvard University), the Institute for
Advanced Study, and the Harriman Institute for Russian
Studies (Columbia University). From 2002-2006, he was a
writer and analyst for The Atlantic Monthly.
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Sanger |
Larry Sanger, former editor-in-chief of Neupedia, and
co-founder and chief organizer of its successor, Wikipedia,
will present, "Wikipedia, Citizendium and the Future of
Online Collaboration," Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at 7 p.m.
Sanger, who resigned from Neupedia and Wikipedia in 2002,
announced last year the creation of Citizendium as an alternative
to the perceived flaws of the Wikipedia system.
Andrew Keen, British-American entrepreneur, author and
critic of Web 2.0, presents "The Dangers of Wikipedia," Thursday,
March 6, 2008, at 7 p.m.
Keen is the author of the book, "The Cult of the Amateur:
How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture." Keen has
taught at Tufts University, Northeastern University and
the University of Massachusetts.
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Walsh |
Katherine Walsh, Wikimedia editor and
a member of the board of trustees, will present a lecture
topic (TBA) April 10, 2008, 7 p.m.
Following each talk, Poe will engage each speaker in what
are expected to be lively and passionate discussions on
the various attributes and flaws of Wikipedia.
"Our speakers represent a wide spectrum of opinion regarding
Wikipedia," said Schott. "It's a timely topic that touches
all disciplines."
