Wikipedia Edit-A-Thons Past and Present: EMU English Students Represent

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hands holding Wikipedia globe
 
hands holding Wikipedia globe

 

EMU English students are encouraged to participate in a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon hosted by the Ypsilanti District Library to update and expand the current Wikipedia entry for the city of Ypsilanti. It will take place virtually the week of October 14, beginning with a kickoff/training session and concluding with a celebration on October 21. Read about the effort on the YDL site.

Questions? Contact Sam Killian at [email protected]

January's Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon: In the News

In January, Professor Christine Hume organized 60 EMU students to participate in an Edit-A-Thon focusing on decolonizing Wikipedia. 

"Wikipedia’s gender and race trouble is well-documented (see “Racial bias on Wikipedia” and “Gender bias on Wikipedia.”) Because Wikipedia exists within systems of patriarchy, white supremacy, and heteronormavitity, content is skewed by the lack of female, queer, and PoC participation. This represents an alarming absence in an increasingly important repository of shared knowledge, and we wanted to help change that."

Featured on the local news site Concentrate, January’s Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon was heralded as an effort “to engage more diverse individuals to bring their perspective to the site.”

Pamela Mohar, a creative writing graduate student at EMU, attended the event and is one of several people featured in the article. Mohar, says Professor Hume, was invited by Wikipedia to a special tea for her outstanding edits. A selection of pages Pamela worked on include: Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Carmen Machado, Sheila Heti, and The Paris Review.

Examples of pages created or edited by the group include: Carmen Maria Machado, African American Vernacular English and Education, Edwin Torres, Nuar Alsadir, Language and Gender, Susan Steinberg, Hilary Plum, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Sheila Heti, Myriam Gurba, Alison Kafer, Rupi Kaur, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Artemisia Gentileschi, Emmaline Pankhurst, Autotheory, Jackie Hill Perry, The Walls Group, Danielle Cadena Deulen, Brianna Knickerbocker, Aurora Harris, and Kiese Laymon. 

EMU students are using the power of language to deconstruct imbalances of representation — consider volunteering for the Ypsilanti District Library's upcoming event and future events hosted by the Department of English Language & Literature. 

You can make a difference, participate!