Episode 099 - Brooke Ackerly and Kristin Michelitch

Brooke Ackerly and Kristin Michelitch, both political science professors here at Vanderbilt University, are editing a forthcoming special issue of the journal PS: Political Science and Politics focused on Wikipedia, the systematic knowledge gaps and biases it has, and efforts by university faculty to address those issues through student initiatives. In that issue, they reflect on their own experiences engaging their students as Wikipedia contributors, with benefits both to Wikipedia and their students. In September 2021, I invited Brooke and Kristin to talk about those experiences at a special spotlight event at the Vanderbilt Digital Commons. On this episode of Leading Lines, we share some of the audio from that spotlight event. We’ll hear first from Brooke Ackerly about the politics of knowledge, the way that those politics intersect with Wikipedia, and the kinds of learning outcomes her class Wikipedia projects lead to. Then we’ll hear from Kristin about the learning outcomes she’s seen with her students, as well as the practical approaches and tools she uses with her Wikipedia assignments. They make a compelling case for teaching with Wikipedia and, whether or not you’ve tried your hand at a Wikipedia assignment, I think you’ll hear some valuable insights in their presentation. Links • Brooke Ackerly’s faculty page, https://www.vanderbilt.edu/political-science/bio/brooke-ackerly • @brookeackerly on Twitter, https://twitter.com/brookeackerly • Kristin Michelitch’s faculty page, https://www.vanderbilt.edu/political-science/bio/kristin-michelitch • @KGMichelitch on Twitter, https://twitter.com/KGMichelitch • "Wikipedia and Political Science: Addressing Systematic Biases with Student Initiatives" by Ackerly and Michelitch, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/wikipedia-and-political-science-addressing-systematic-biases-with-student-initiatives/BB0D5D39E274DA9722167FA1DF105D3D • Wiki Education, https://wikiedu.org/ • Michael Bess on teaching with Wikipedia, https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2007/12/episode-1-an-interview-with-michael-bess/, from the first episode of the Center for Teaching’s original podcast in 2007