Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Alliances Fund/Amplifying Black and Indigenous Archaeologies on Wikipedia:Building Equitable Knowledge Systems with an Inclusive Cohort Model
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Applicant information[edit]
A. Organization type
- Mission-aligned organization
B. Organization name
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
E. Do you have an account on a Wikimedia project?
- No
E1. Please provide the main Wikimedia Username (required) and Usernames of people related to this proposal.
- N/A
G. Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?
- Did not apply previously
H. Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?
- Yes
- H1. Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?
- The Wenner-Gren Foundation supports itself through an endowment. Since its founding in 2015, SAPIENS has been funded as a program of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. In the last few years, SAPIENS has sought external grants as a way to grow beyond its core operations. (These are the first external grants in the Foundation’s history.)
In 2022, SAPIENS received a $300,000+ grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create a special podcast season, and a $800,000+ grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a three-year project to train underrepresented scholars in public writing and podcasting, and to create a permanent training module for academics to translate their research for general public audiences.
- H2. Please state the size of these grants from the following options.
- Above 50,000 USD
- H3. What type of organization (s) did you receive grants from?
- Government, National NGO
- H4. What percentage of your program budget do other funders contribute to?
- Less than 30%
1. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
1a. Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
2. Are you legally registered?
- Yes
3. What type of organization are you?
- Non profit organisation
4. What is your organization or group's mission and how does it align with the Wikimedia movement?
- SAPIENS is a free and open digital magazine that translates academic anthropology for a broad global public readership. SAPIENS magazine advances the Free Knowledge Movement by making most of its content available through CC BY-ND 4.0 licenses and training academics in public communication. SAPIENS aligns with the Free Knowledge Movement with its focus on inclusivity, equity and empowerment, and contextualization.
5. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)
https://www.facebook.com/SAPIENS.org/ https://mastodon.world/@SAPIENS_org https://twitter.com/SAPIENS_org
Grant proposal[edit]
6. Please state the title of your proposal.
- Amplifying Black and Indigenous Archaeologies on Wikipedia: Building Equitable Knowledge Systems with an Inclusive Cohort Model
9. Where will this proposal be implemented?
- United States of America
10. Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries?
10a. If you have answered international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
10b. Are there any specific sub-regions or areas where your proposal will be implemented?
- The Wenner-Gren Foundation is based in North America, but its mission includes amplifying the impact of anthropology within the wider world, and provides research grants to scholars around the globe. SAPIENS, a program of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, likewise works to reach global audiences, including publishing in non-English languages, and currently about 40% of its readers come from outside North America. Additionally, the partners in this project seek global conversations, such as the Society of Black Archaeologists whose mission is to center the histories and material cultures of global Black and African communities in archaeological research.
11. What is the challenge or problem you are addressing and why is this important?
- Since its formation in the 1700s, the discipline of archaeology has long been the domain of wealthy, white, Euro-Americans. Starting in the 1980s, archaeology has become more inclusive. However, even today, it is estimated that there are only several dozen Native Americans Ph.D.s, and 75 people of African descent who hold a Ph.D., in the field out of several thousand archaeology doctorates in the U.S. Archaeology’s exclusivity has major ramifications for whose history is told and how it is told, whose stories are written and whose are left out.
Archaeology is just one space that reflects the legacies of racism and exclusion. Wikipedia has similarly been the focus of critiques for its diversity gaps and racial biases. In the past Black and Indigenous archaeologists, with an array of expertise in underrepresented history, have reported to us being deterred from contributing to Wikipedia for various reasons including a frustration with a lack of understanding as to how Wikipedia editors accept or reject contributions.
Similar to archaeology, when only some stories are told on Wikipedia, we will fall short of the Free Knowledge Movement’s goals of making knowledge available in all its wondrously diverse forms, perspectives, and voices.
This proposed project aims to help redress these twin crises through the creation of an inclusive cohort model, a partnership among multiple organizations dedicated to centering Black and Indigenous voices in archaeology. The benefits of this project will extend beyond archaeology into the realm of history, geography, and biography. Our proposed solution is to create a year-long Wikipedian-in-Residence program, with direct support by experts and institutions, to foster knowledge equity of Black and Indigenous archaeologies on Wikipedia.
This partnership includes one of the leading organizations in anthropology (Wenner-Gren Foundation), leading organizations in Black and Indigenous archaeologies (Society of Black Archaeologists and Indigenous Archaeology Collective), a world-leading university (Cornell University), and a Wikimedia-focused organization (WikiBlueprint).
We propose that the Wikipedian-in-Residence is the ideal mechanism to initiate this work because it is vital to have a member of the Wikimedia community help drive engagement, dialogue, and content creation in ways that are fully attuned to their values, needs, and practices.
The proposed Wikipedian-in-Residence will then collaborate with the SAPIENS Public Media and Outreach Fellow, who can both help guide expert content and begin to develop capacity for contributing directly to the Wikimedia community.
These efforts will be further supported by the Society of Black Archaeologists and the Indigenous Archaeology Collective for content areas and expertise; by SAPIENS for its expertise in public anthropology and success in grant administration; and WikiBlueprint with its successful and proven Wikipedian-in-Residence recruit-and-support model.
12. What is the main objective of your proposal? Please state why you think partnering with Wikimedia Movement helps to achieve this objective?
- We will recruit and support a Wikipedian-in-Residence to improve archaeology content on Wikipedia. By creating encyclopedic summaries related to Black and Indigenous archaeology, and by adding reliably sourced perspectives from those demographics, we will introduce 50 new articles, 200 improved articles, 1000 new citations, and 1 million pageviews. We will host 4 online webinars for archaeology graduate students. We will upload 200 free images Commons and improve 500 relevant Wikidata items.
13. Describe your main strategies to achieve this objective?
- In phase 1 (month 1-2), the project leaders will set the foundation for the project by selecting 6 advisors from the SBA and IAC, who will serve as the expert panel for the Wikipedian-in-Residence. The SAPIENS Media and Public Outreach Fellow will be selected through their usual mechanisms, a recent Ph.D. with expertise in Black and Indigenous archaeologies. The role of the SAPIENS Fellow is to bring expertise on these subjects to the project with a dedicated full-time position, in support of the Wikipedian-in-Residence. We will also select the Wikipedian-in-Residence by proactively reaching out to at least 30 thematically related community channels to promote the position, including Wikipedia pages, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, as well as the social media and community channels of the SBA, IAC, Wenner-Gren, SAPIENS, and Cornell. This will be an open, fair, and robust effort to select an individual who has deep experience in Wikipedia.
In phase 2 (end of month 2), we will begin with a kick-off meeting with the core team (Wikipedian-in-Residence, SAPIENS Media and Public Outreach Fellow, expert panel, and project leaders) to set expectations and plans. In this phase, the Wikipedian-in-Residence will map out their monthly plans and share with the team. WikiBlueprint will meet weekly with the Wikimedian-in-Residence, and will be joined by the full expert panel bi-weekly.
Phase 3 (months 3-11) is the heart of the project with myriad activities including article creation, article improvement, Commons uploads, Wikidata improvement, and data collection and reports. Additionally, the Wikipedian-in-Residence will host four workshops to provide community education and training about the Wikimedia movement and the means by which individuals and organizations can contribute to this work. During this period, we will transparently share our work on our various social media channels, soliciting community feedback, critiques, and suggestions.
In phase 4 (month 12), the core team will wrap up its work, evaluate final reports and learnings, and prepare final outcomes, including publishing articles on SAPIENS about this and our model, sharing on social media, and presenting at conferences.
14. Are you running any in-person events or activities?
- No
15. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified content knowledge gaps?
- Content Gender gap, Age (regency) , Geography, Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
16. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or thematic focus.
- Culture, heritage or GLAM , Diversity
17. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select all categories that apply.
- Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
18. Please tell us more about your target participants.
- Our participants are our cohort.
Wenner-Gren Foundation will serve as the administrative home of the project, and has experience with managing several major grants.
SAPIENS translates academic research in anthropology for broad global nonacademic publics. SAPIENS will provide tools, resources, or information required and also help promote the workshops and cohort model to its networks of scholars and publics. Finally, SAPIENS will commit its Media and Public Outreach Fellowship to this project.
The Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) will advise the overall project and select three contributors to the expert panel from its membership, and will help promote the workshops and cohort model.
The Indigenous Archaeology Collective (IAC) represents archaeologists who are Native, and their allies. The work of the IAC shifted public policies to be informed by sovereign Indigenous knowledge systems, and reshaped how public audiences think about Indigenous peoples as scholars and knowledge producers. The IAC will advise the overall project and select three contributors to the expert panel from its membership.
Cornell Institute of Archaeology & Material Sciences (CIAMS) is a world-renowned institute that has been a key partner with SBA, IAC, and SAPIENS in elevating Black and Indigenous knowledge producers in the public sphere. They will help lead the four workshops for archaeology graduate students through their leadership with the ACC (below).
The Archaeology Centers Coalition, which has 17 affiliates, including many of North America’s leading universities, which will further promote this project. The workshops and cohort model will be promoted through these channels, including month social media updates, monthly newsletter updates, and articles on SAPIENS and the partner websites.
These organizations combined have expansive networks in academic and public spheres, with tens of thousands of followers on social media and direct email lists numbering more than 50,000.
WikiBlueprint is an open knowledge consultancy service led by Jake Orlowitz (User:Ocaasi). A decades-long Wikipedia editor and administrator, Jake was the former Senior Program Manager for Libraries and Knowledge Integrity at the Wikimedia Foundation. Jake's target participant is the Wikipedian in Residence who who be recruited, interviewed, selected, onboarded, and supported throughout the process.
19. Do you have plans to work with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?
- Yes
19a. If yes, please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.
- Yes, WikiBlueprint is connected to the people and groups listed below as potential collaborators and advisors (but not as direct partners). WikiBlueprint will regularly update and invite review and participation as a Wikipedia community organizing and outreach function.
Community notification: Stacy Allison-Cassin -email Kelly Foster -email Eric Kansa -email Afrocrowd -email Black Lunch Table -email Wikimedia D.C. -email Wikimedia Canada -email Wikiproject Archaeology -talk page Wikiproject Anthropology -talk page Wikiproject Indigenous Peoples of North America -talk page
19b. If no, please tell us the reasons why it has not been possible to make these connections.
- N/A
20. Will you be working with other external non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?
- Yes
20a. If yes, please describe these partnerships.
- In 2020, SAPIENS, and its publisher the Wenner-Gren Foundation, began a partnership with the Society of Black Archaeologists, Indigenous Archaeology Collective, and the Cornell Institute of Archaeology & Material Studies at Cornell University to advocate for the inclusion of Black and Indigenous voices, values, and scholarship in academic and public spaces. Projects have included a nine-part public webinar series “From the Margins to the Mainstream: Black and Indigenous Futures in Archaeology” and seven-part special season four of the SAPIENS Podcast, “Our Past Is Our Future.”
Our organizing has led to the foundation of the Archaeological Centers Coalition, which works to address systemic racism in all spheres of institutional life and work collectively to consider ways to move archaeology forward towards greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have also organized several major surveys to better understand equity gaps in archaeology. This proposed project is an extension of our collective effort to further bring Black and Indigenous scholarship into the public sphere.
20a. If yes, indicate sharing of resources from these partners (in kind support, grants, donations, payments).
- Wenner-Gren Foundation serves as administrative hub of the project, including dispersing payments to project contributors. The Foundation will serve as host for the online workshops. All administrative costs and indirect costs donated.
SAPIENS Editor-in-Chief will serve on the project leadership team; the Digital Editor will promote the project and solicit community feedback on social media channels. All work time donated. Hire and supervise half-time Media and Public Outreach Fellow (50% of funding will be matched).
The SBA and IAC leadership will help recruit expert panelists, promote the project and solicit community feedback on social media channels, evaluate the final products and provide feedback. All work time donated.
The CIAMS leadership will promote the project and solicit community feedback on social media channels and help lead workshops. All work time donated.
WikiBlueprint's time, expertise, and advice for this grant proposal has been donated.
21. Please tell us how your organization is structured.
- The Wenner-Gren Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation dedicated to providing leadership in support of anthropology and anthropologists worldwide. Founded in 1941, the Foundation is committed to enabling the field of anthropology to flourish in its full diversity.
In concert with our Board of Trustees, the Foundation relies on an advisory council of international anthropologists who provide guidance on the Foundation’s programs and policies. We also depend on more than 60 reviewers to offer feedback to all grant applicants and ensure that the research we fund is of the highest quality. The Foundation has a staff of 12 people, led by its president, Dr. Danilyn Rutherford and in support with Vice President of Finance, Maugha Kenny.
A flagship program of the Foundation is SAPIENS, the editorially independent digital magazine that makes academic research accessible and freely available to broad global publics. The magazine is led by its founding editor-in-chief, Dr. Chip Colwell, who is an internationally known anthropologist who has worked to make academic knowledge accessible for two decades. SAPIENS has a staff of seven editors and anthropologists, who publish about 150 articles each year, reaching 3-5 million readers.
The organization’s key contributors to this project will be Dr. Rutherford and Dr. Colwell, who have worked with the collaborators--SBA, IAC, Cornell--for three years on multiple projects, and with the administrative support of Maugha Kenny.
22. Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?
- Lead: Wenner-Gren: www.wennergren.org; Unpaid
Organize cohort Serve as administrative hub of the project, including dispersing payments to project contributors Host the online workshops
Publication/Experts: SAPIENS: www.sapiens.org; Paid and Unpaid Editor-in-Chief will serve on the project leadership team Hire and supervise SAPIENS Media and Public Outreach Fellow Digital Editor will promote the project and solicit community feedback on social media channels.
Experts: Society of Black Archaeologists: https://www.societyofblackarchaeologists.com; Paid and unpaid SBA leadership will help recruit expert panelists, promote project and solicit community feedback on social media channels, evaluate final products and provide feedback. Identify and invite three expert advisors Guide work in marginalized content area
Experts IAC: https://www.facebook.com/indig; Paid and unpaid IAC leadership will help recruit expert panelists, promote project and solicit community feedback on social media channels, evaluate final products and provide feedback. Identify and invite three expert advisors Guide work in marginalized content area
Experts: Cornell: https://archaeology.cornell.edu/; Unpaid CIAMS leadership will help recruit expert panelists, promote project and solicit community feedback on social media channels, evaluate final products and provide feedback. Coordinate these activities with the Archaeology Centers Coalition, a group of more than a dozen archaeology centers at major U.S. universities. Guide work in marginalized content area
Wikipedia Expert: WikiBlueprint: Jake Orlowitz (Wikipedian in Residence Guidance); Paid Hire Wikipedian-in-Residence Leads Wikipedia expertise
23. Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here.
- No
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation[edit]
24. What do you hope to learn from this proposal?
- What can we learn from the cohort model, in terms of its efficiency and efficacy, and how can we help replicate this in other areas? Is it scalable to combine organizational, representational, academic, and wikimedia expertise--in any field?
What kind of impact can Black and Indigenous scholarship have on Wikipedia?
How can organizations dedicated to advancing social science understanding publicly effectively work with a Wikipedian-in-Residence?
How can organizations that promote marginalized perspectives effectively work with a Wikipedian-in-Residence?
How can Wikipedia content be improved through a partnership between a Wikipedian-in-residence, a Wikipedia consultant, and topical content experts?
Can Black and Indigenous archaeologists find more space in the Free Knowledge Movement while increasing the public understanding and perspective of Black and Indigenous archaeologies?
Core Metrics[edit]
25. Enter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Core metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | The target cohort | 12 |
| Number of editors | 1 | |
| Number of organizers | 5 |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
25a. If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation. (optional)
- Core metrics will be collected through the Program and Events Dashboard:
Wikipedia Articles Created: 50 Wikipedia Articles Edited: 500 Wikipedia Total Edits: 10,000 Wikipedia Words Added: 10,000 Wikipedia References Added: 1000 Wikipedia Article Views: 1 Million Commons Uploads: 500 Wikidata Revisions: 500 Wikidata Items Create: 100 Wikidata Claims created/changed/removed: 500 Wikidata Descriptions added/changed: 100 Wikidata Aliases added/changed/removed: 50 Wikidata Qualifiers added: 100 Wikidata References added: 100
26. What other information will you be collecting to learn about the impact of your work? (optional)
- N/A
27. What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?
- -Participants: P&E Dashboard
- Editors: P&E Dashboard
- Edits: P&E Dashboard
- Organizers: Manually count
- Continuing organizers: Email survey
- Strategic Partnerships: Manually count
- Social Media Reach: Buffer
- Activities Developed: Count
28. How do you hope to share these results so that others can learn from them?
- Make a short presentation of the experience, Create a training workshop to show others what we learned, Share results on social media, Share results with our communities, Share it on Meta-Wiki, Other
- Publish articles on SAPIENS/Wenner-Gren about this model
Financial Proposal[edit]
29. What is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency.
- 99400 USD
30. What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?
- 99400 USD
31. & 32. Please provide a budget for the amount of funding requested.
33. What do you do to make sure there is a good management of funds?
- SAPIENS is a program of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, which will receive and manage the grant funds. The Wenner-Gren Foundation is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1941. SAPIENS has a staff of eight people, while the Foundation has a board of trustees, an advisory council, and staff of twelve people. The Foundation has assets totalling more than $200 million, which it uses to disperse grants and support programs to sustain the field of anthropology. Since 2022, SAPIENS has received major grants, which are administered through the Foundation. This proposed grant will allow SAPIENS and its partners to continue to further advance its goals of amplifying anthropological knowledge in the world while sustaining its core work.
34. How will you contribute towards creating a supportive environment for participants using the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy?
- We value creating a safe and productive environment where people are supported, free to express their identities, and not exposed to harassment and abuse.
Wenner-Gren has in its employee handbook strict policies on Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment, Whistle Blower Policy, Procedures to Report Concerns, and Handling of Reported Violations in place.
35. Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Other public document(s): N/A
Final message[edit]
By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
36. We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback[edit]
- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.
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