Wiki for Academics: Critical Engagement, Teaching, and Knowledge Dissemination (DHSI 2026)

Description

This course introduces academics to the Wikimedia ecosystem and its applications in teaching and research. The course will address questions of authority and content attribution, the reliability of sources, knowledge equity, and the political dimensions of open knowledge. Participants will learn how Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and other Wiki projects function, and how they can be leveraged as tools to foster critical thinking, teach about misinformation, engage students in collaborative editing, and make scholarly knowledge more discoverable and accessible according to FAIR principles. Through a mix of hands-on editing, critical discussion, and guided planning, participants will leave with:

a draft course plan for integrating Wiki tools into their teaching; and a draft research plan for using Wiki projects in their scholarship and knowledge mobilization.

This course emphasizes both theoretical and practical approaches, equipping scholars to critically analyze Wiki platforms while also contributing meaningfully to them. This course also integrates critical theory and practice in understanding and using the Wiki ecosystem.

Instructor(s)

Pascale Dangoisse: Program Officer for Wikimedia Canada, I conduct work towards a better representation and integration of historically marginalized people into the Wiki ecosystem. My doctoral research (University of Ottawa) focused on understanding the persistence of systemic discrimination in liberal and progressive political environments. I was also a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Digital Humanities Lab, where I worked on the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Canada project (with Prof. Crompton). I continue to teach about the various systemic barriers that people face on a daily basis through Wiki tools and projects.