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Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Stony Brook University/Environmental History in Global Perspective (Spring 2022)

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Course name
Environmental History in Global Perspective
Institution
Stony Brook University
Instructor
Alix Cooper
Wikipedia Expert
Ian (Wiki Ed)
Subject
History
Course dates
2022-01-25 00:00:00 UTC – 2022-05-12 23:59:59 UTC
Approximate number of student editors
40


Taking a global and comparative approach, the course will examine a series of crucial environmental transformations which have occurred over the course of human history, from agriculture and deforestation in prehistory and classical antiquity to the Columbian encounter, from problems of environmental management in imperial India to the emergence of environmentalism as a global movement today. Key themes of the course will include the ways in which human beings have thought about the environment and the ways in which humans have shaped the environment. It would be impossible to "cover" all of the vast chronological and geographical expanse of world history in a single course; instead, to allow a bit more depth, the course will focus on examples from several regions, including the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, New England/Long Island, and South Asia.

In terms of how the students will interact with Wikipedia: this is the first time I'll have taught using Wikipedia (if my application gets accepted), so I'm not 100% sure yet how everything will work, but I think I'll encourage students to try to find either articles that need work, or articles that don't exist yet, on either people, places or events in New England/New York/Long Island (the area the campus is located in) or people, places or events related to environmentalism/environmental history. (As a member of the American Society for Environmental History, I'm aware of various initiatives to try to further diversify Wikipedia entries related to environmental history--I saw a great spreadsheet just last year of people/books etc. that members thought really needed Wikipedia entries, & I will try to find the link to that spreadsheet and use it as a resource to try to match students with relevant topics, if they're having difficulty finding appropriate topics.) I'm excited about possibly making Wikipedia even richer in this regard! (I've been assigning research papers for this course forever, and my sense is that students are bored of research papers, and might really like the chance to do something which might actually make more of a difference in the world!)

Timeline

Week 4

Course meetings
Thursday, 17 February 2022
In class - 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.)

Milestones

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 5

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 February 2022   |   Thursday, 24 February 2022
Assignment - Evaluate Wikipedia
In class - Discussion

Week 6

Course meetings
Tuesday, 1 March 2022   |   Thursday, 3 March 2022
Assignment - Review the rules for health topics
Assignment - Choose possible topics

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

In class - Discussion

Week 7

Course meetings
Tuesday, 8 March 2022   |   Thursday, 10 March 2022
Assignment - Add to an article
Assignment - Finalize your topic and find sources

Week 8

Course meetings
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
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

Milestones

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 9

Course meetings
Tuesday, 29 March 2022   |   Thursday, 31 March 2022
Assignment - Peer review two articles

Guiding framework

In class - Discussion
Milestones

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

Week 10

Course meetings
Tuesday, 5 April 2022   |   Thursday, 7 April 2022
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.

Week 11

Course meetings
Tuesday, 12 April 2022   |   Thursday, 14 April 2022
Assignment - Begin moving your work to Wikipedia

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 12

Course meetings
Tuesday, 19 April 2022   |   Thursday, 21 April 2022
Assignment - Continue improving 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 - 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!

Week 13

Course meetings
Tuesday, 26 April 2022   |   Thursday, 28 April 2022
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!
Assignment - Reflective essay

Week 14

Course meetings
Tuesday, 3 May 2022   |   Thursday, 5 May 2022
Milestones

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

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