Spreading the Word: The Impact of Art History Student Contributions to Public-Facing Knowledge

This presentation aims to demonstrate the impressive impact that students in Art History can have in contributing to a public-facing knowledge base like Wikipedia. Over the course of four semesters, students in my 100-level undergraduate class, The Year 1500: A Global History of Art and Architecture, have become trained editors through the Wikipedia Education Student Program.

The Wikipedia Assignment fulfills student learning objectives—like developing digital literacy skills and strengthening academic research skills—as it fosters in-class skill-building exercises and workshops, along with interactive, collaborative, and experiential activities. Students become active learners for an assignment that requires them to take accountability of their work and address content equity gaps while at the same time diversifying the demographics of Wikipedia editors. As the semester goes on, students become more acutely aware of their impactful role in creating content as their words spread into the public sphere—contributing to a community working together to improve information and knowledge about art and its many histories.

Students have made remarkable changes to Wikipedia articles like Benin Ancestral Altars and the Spanish Alcázar to Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi (1423) and Bronzino’s Portrait of a Young Man with a Book (1530s). The Wikipedia Assignment has been a game-changer pedagogically on many levels, especially because it chips away at the “Sage on the Stage” power dynamic. Ultimately, Art History students become both content creators and facilitators in knowledge sharing, activities that are meaningful far beyond the walls of a classroom.