Rberggren

In my junior year as an Advertising Account Management and Sociology student at Drake University. I am currently enrolled in many sociology classes this semester and one course is SCSS 155: Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Drake University/Global Youth Studies (Fall 2015).

After graduation in 2017, I intend on working in the business world at an advertising agency bringing in my studies from sociology to give me an edge that other candidates for potential positions will not have.

Potential Idea for Wikipedia Edit:

Interested in the "Walkabout" tradition that stems from indigenous Australia for their youth population and how that tradition is or is not still carried out in today's society.

Training for Students complete!

Project Proposal

I am interested in gaining knowledge about the Aboriginal Youth in Australia and expanding the Wikipedia page Australian Aboriginal Culture. The Walkabout tradition is something that I became interested in upon watching the movie Australia (starring Hugh Jackman). A walkabout is when an aboriginal youth in Australia goes off on their own into the Australian wilderness for about 6 months, over these 6 months they are forced to provide for themselves and live on their own. If they return after those 6 months in a good physical state they have made the rite of passage into becoming an adult. I know that the walkabout tradition was typically completely by males however, I am interested in finding out if females completed this rite of passage as well or if they had their own journey to follow. As we began to talk about the Wikipedia project for our class and expanding our knowledge of youths globally, I kept returning to Australia and this walkabout tradition. However without a single Wikipedia page dedicated specifically to youth in Australia, or aboriginal youth in Australia, I have decided that it would be best to expand on the Australian Aboriginal Culture page creating a section for youth in Australia as well as educated and expanding on the Walkabout tradition in the Traditional Recreation section.

Whenever anyone thinks of Australia, especially college-age girls we just think of their beautiful accents, and surfing and the opera house of Sydney. But something that most people don't even know about are the aboriginal people that live in Australia, the people that were there before the British moved in decades ago. I want to bring light upon the forgotten people of Australia and the children of this culture. What is it like to grow up as an aboriginal child? Do they still follow traditional aboriginal culture? Or have they become more modern and do not follow those traditions at all? On the Australian Aboriginal Culture Wikipedia page, when one does a search for any word relating to kids, children, youth, or the young only one word it found and it is referring to a children's game. In the United States we view our children as our future for they are our future leaders, bu it seems that in Australia (at least on this page) there is not even a nod to the youth as even mattering.

I intend to fix this by adding and tailoring a section on that page just to youth in Australia, talking about their experiences growing up, etc. But I am still very interested in expanding my own knowledge of the Walkabout rite of passage in current culture, if it is still continued out today, and if it is only completed by men or women as well. Using different research techniques from the library here on campus, the online catalog offered by the library, as well as using Google Australia as a starting point for more focused articles and research that is not Americanized.

Walkabout Sources:

I have found many more sources to use in my article however, I am waiting to hear back about the request from Cowles Library. They currently do not have two of the sources I need, and I am waiting to hear back on where I can obtain the sources that I need and when.