MRU students add anti-racist, feminist voices to Wikipedia

An innovative assignment in a senior-level Women’s Studies class at Mount Royal University has expanded the information available online about Indigenous women, organizations, and events. The students were asked first to edit existing pages on Wikipedia that had inaccurate or stereotypical information, adding an anti-racist, feminist, and theoretical voice to the articles. The students’ final assignment was to create a Wikipedia entry that serves to balance the documented gender bias of Wikipedia, which was called a “patchwork of well-researched posts, blended with stereotypical and outdated information” by one of the course professors. “A lot of really important or commonplace information simply doesn't exist on Wikipedia,” said assistant professor Jessie Loyer. “So there is a huge gap where we don't see the same kind of coverage for issues connected to Indigenous people, particularly women.” The project was described by students as eye-opening, and several have pledged to continue the work on their own. MRU News