REGINA – In honour of International Women’s Day, U of R students took to the pages of Wikipedia, to help populate it with more female content.
Focusing on Saskatchewan artists and prairie based content, students spent their time creating and editing Wikipedia web pages.
“There is a gender imbalance, we need to actively address that”, associate professor Megan Smith explained.
“Doing the Wikipedia edit-a-thon is a really positive way to engage with the subject, and help promote all of these incredible women”.
Smith said there’s a lack of articles about women in general, and Saskatchewan women in particular.
She hosted the 6-hour workshop to help highlight local artists and leaders.
“When you look at the way we construct histories, it’s all you know straight white males, and especially Wikipedia”, Fine Arts Masters student Paula Weber said.
The Wikipedia Arts+Feminism Edit-a-thon takes place in many cities around the world, and is designed to generate female content on Wikipedia.