Grants:IdeaLab/Reach out to University departments of women's & Gender Studies, Queer Studies, ethnic studies, etc.

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statusnot selected
Reach out to University departments of women's & Gender Studies, Queer Studies, ethnic studies, etc.
Wikipedia could reach out to University departments which attract students from marginalized subject positions and encourage professors/administrators/students to edit wikipedia, create editing assignments, or editing writing prizes.
amount$500-$5000 USD
granteejonotrain
idea creator
Jonotrain
community organizer
Atanuami
volunteer
Supaiku
this project needs...
volunteer
researcher
advisor
project manager
join
endorse
created on00:31, 27 March 2015 (UTC)


Project idea[edit]

What is the problem you're trying to solve?[edit]

Too few wikipedia editors come from the communities most represented by these departments.

What is your solution?[edit]

Such a campaign could attract editors from a very broad demographic. Also, these departments would have an expertise on issues that may be overlooked because of the skewed wikipedia editor base.

Goals[edit]

Get Involved[edit]

Participants[edit]

  • Community organizer I would like to take up few workshops in and around the North eastern part of India. Female students represent a substantial number at both the college and the university level. The workshops will certainly promote contribution of our knowledge system which can be directly uploaded to various wiki projects. It will aim at knowledge created by women for common. Atanuami (talk) 09:34, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

That sounds fantastic Atanuami - I'm glad you're interested in being involved, and I'll let you know how the project develops. jonotrain

  • Volunteer Happy to participate. Supaiku (talk) 20:38, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Endorsements[edit]

  • It is crucial to reach out to the college and university students. Their sincere efforts can certainly help us to reach our goal Atanuami (talk) 09:29, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
  • These are the kind of potential editors who have a real motivation to lessen the gender gap. It seems like a no-brainer to be more proactive with professors in these fields in exposing their students to Wikipedia editing! I would be willing to reach out to a few universities in the Bay Area if help is needed. La salonniere (talk) 23:54, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
  • I like this idea. Supaiku (talk) 20:37, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Expand your idea[edit]

Do you want to submit your idea for funding from the Wikimedia Foundation?

Expand your idea into a grant proposal

Project plan[edit]

Activities[edit]

I think this project could expand significantly from a very small investment if we incorporated a contest for editors as part of its mission.

  • Phase 1: Compose a contest proposal - this will explain a)that our goal is to encourage the participation of underrepresented groups in editing wikipedia b) that we would like to find volunteers either among faculty or staff at universities to let people know about the contest in the short term and encourage editing of wikipedia in the long term c) that we are offering a prize for editing articles related to the fields of their departments - gender studies & ethnic studies
  • Phase 2: establish contacts at universities and gather volunteers (3 months)
  • Phase 3: begin contest - 3 to 6 months for submissions window (should coincide with 1 semester of academic calendar)
  • Phase 4: editors are asked to engage in the talk process and continue editing their pages while the submissions are considered (2 months)
  • Phase 5: announce winner, give prize money
  • Phase 6: long term contacts established at universities and listservs can be used to motivate and organize continued wikipedia editing

Budget[edit]

Funding is flexible - the more money you are willing to commit to the project the more editors it will attract.

I would like to set up one contest for new articles and one for substantial revisions.

  • $250-$2500: prize money for new article contest
  • $250-$2500: prize money for substantial revision contest

It might also be possible to further subdivide grant money to create prizes in different languages, depending on how international our interest base becomes.

Community engagement[edit]

Each phase will involve reaching out to universities not only to seek new editors, but also to find campus volunteers among faculty and staff to help publicize the contest and then promote wikipedia editing at their departments and in their region thereafter.

Sustainability[edit]

With the very modest grant we have requested, we will be able to develop a national and potentially international network of university departments that can continue to motivate their students to edit wikipedia for a long time to come.

For example - a listserv or wiki could be set up including contacts at all of the universities we have reached out to where anyone involved could raise issues for discussion like articles or subjects that need editor focus.

Measures of success[edit]

  • number of volunteers and contacts established at university departments
  • number of submissions for our contest
  • number of volunteers who continue to encourage wikipedia editing on their campuses after the contest

Project team[edit]

Atanuami has volunteered as community organizer - they are based in India and can expand the global reach of our project.

Community notification[edit]

Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. Need notification tips?