Talking about Building a More Feminist Internet, One Wikipedia Edit at a Time

Article written by Carolyn Jervis and Sarah Severson. This event received a Wikimedia Canada micro grant.

Since 2020, we’ve been organizing Art+Feminism edit-a-thons in Edmonton as a loose collective of friends from MacEwan University and the University of Alberta, bringing together folks interested in making Wikipedia more inclusive and representative. This year, we wanted to mix things up. Inspired by the A+F campaign theme “What would a truly feminist internet look like?” we decided to shift the focus toward dialogue and discussion, specifically on how Wikipedia can be a tool for critical engagement in the academic classroom.

To kick off the event, we hosted a panel featuring one of our organizers, Carolyn Jervis, who was teaching at MacEwan this semester. Carolyn had integrated a Wikipedia assignment into her class, and two of her students—right in the middle of the assignment—joined the panel to share their experiences. The panel also acted as a primer on how a Wikipedia article assignment supported by Wiki Education works, what the Wiki Ed dashboard looks like, and the kinds of supports the Wikimedia Foundation provides for educators and for students…

Moderated by Sarah Severson, another organizer, the conversation was candid, insightful, and full of practical takeaways. We explored how teaching with Wikipedia can build research skills, critical thinking, and media literacy—all while encouraging students to think more critically about the information they consume and create. Kerri-Lynn Reeves, the final organizer, brought along senior students to attend. As fourth-year students, their learning objectives include improving research methods and strengthening media literacy. This panel aided in the understanding of these topics. 

Following the panel, we hosted a live editing demonstration, keeping the discussion going in a more hands-on way. We explored different areas of Wikipedia, like the recent changes in the page and the version history of articles, to better understand how Wikipedia evolves. These features help us read Wikipedia more critically and, ultimately, contribute to a more feminist internet—one Wikipedia edit at a time.

Thanks to the funding from Wikimedia Canada, we were able to provide snacks for the participants, which kept us all fuelled for the discussions. 

All in all, it was a fantastic event, and we’re already looking forward to the next one. Until then, happy editing!

^{Welcome presentation screen before the panel started. A+F graphics by Chrysanthemum123 & Sara.identikitten CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Chelsea Chiovelli.}