The Hypatia Trust's Wikipedia Women's Project: Difference between revisions
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=== The Cornish Context === | === The Cornish Context === | ||
[http://hypatia-trust.org.uk/the-origin-of-history-51/ History 51] was a HLF supported women's heritage project organised by the Hypatia Trust in 2013. Its programme of volunteer and community engagement provided an indication of the appetite for a what is possible when pioneering new interest in historical and cultural subjects from women's perspectives. Over the last twenty years the Hypatia Trust has worked in the context of the male-dominated narratives on Cornish art, literature, press, politics, identity and history. Access to female subject matter and role models remains hard to access and discourses about Cornish identity in particular remain highly gender unbalanced. Given the historic significance of the UK Government and Council of Europe’s official recognition of the Cornish as a protected National Minority in April 2014,<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cornish-granted-minority-status-within-the-uk | [http://hypatia-trust.org.uk/the-origin-of-history-51/ History 51] was a HLF supported women's heritage project organised by the Hypatia Trust in 2013. Its programme of volunteer and community engagement provided an indication of the appetite for a what is possible when pioneering new interest in historical and cultural subjects from women's perspectives. Over the last twenty years the Hypatia Trust has worked in the context of the male-dominated narratives on Cornish art, literature, press, politics, identity and history. Access to female subject matter and role models remains hard to access and discourses about Cornish identity in particular remain highly gender unbalanced. Given the historic significance of the UK Government and Council of Europe’s official recognition of the Cornish as a protected National Minority in April 2014,<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cornish-granted-minority-status-within-the-uk] Cornish granted minority status within the UK, GOV.UK, 24 April 2014.</ref> it is essential women’s voices and experiences are fully recognised and widely understood. In particular, the Hypatia Trust is interested in supporting the growing consciousness amongst young people in Cornwall of their Cornishness is evident in the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC) which returned 37% identifying as Cornish in 2011, rising to 48% in 2014.<ref>[https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/7326793/FINAL-Cornish-Minority-Report-2014-pr7.pdf] Cornish National Minority Report 2014, Cornwall Council. Accessed: 9 January 2017.</ref> | ||
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Revision as of 13:04, 9 January 2017
The Hypatia Trust, with support from Wikimedia UK, is developing a project to rebalance the gender bias of the English-language Wikipedia.[1] By targeting existing and creating new articles on the lives and achievements of women who have originated in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, or who have lived and worked in the region, the project will increase and improve the quality of articles on Cornish women.
Dr Tehmina Goskar has been appointed as the Hypatia Trust's first Wikimedian In Residence. She will lead the project from September 2016 to March 2017, and will recruit and coordinate a small network of researchers with the primary aim of writing and editing biographical articles on women in Cornwall and Scilly for the English-language Wikipedia.
This project page will document the progress of the project, provide a place for discussion, and to provide news about forthcoming events related to the projects, such as editathons. If you are interested in getting involved in Wikimedia events organised at the Hypatia Trust, or in contributing to this project, please contact the Wikimedian-in-Residence.
Background
About the Hypatia Trust
The Hypatia Trust is a UK-registered charity based in Penzance, Cornwall (reg. 1060663).[2]. Its stated charitable activities are: “to advance the education of the public by maintaining, developing, protecting and making available to the public the Hypatia Library, focusing on literary, artistic and scientific works of women, with emphasis on public service and cultural appreciation. Based in Penzance, Cornwall with international connection to the USA, Germany, Australasia and Africa.” Inspired by the philosopher and mathematician, Hypatia of Alexandria, Dr. Melissa Hardie-Budden MBE founded the Hypatia Trust in 1996. In practice the Hypatia Trust operates as a loose collective of individuals with a common ideal and common aim: to promote and raise the profile of women and women’s works in their communities.
The Hypatia Trust’s principal activities have focused on establishing a distributed library consisting mainly of books but also including some archives and artworks. The guiding principle behind this distributed library is to facilitate public access to knowledge by and about women on a wide variety of subjects and geographical foci. Together with collecting, the Hypatia Trust has led or supported various projects and series of educational programmes, including public engagement community events on women’s heritage (History 51), creative writing online and exhibitions on women.
The Cornish Context
History 51 was a HLF supported women's heritage project organised by the Hypatia Trust in 2013. Its programme of volunteer and community engagement provided an indication of the appetite for a what is possible when pioneering new interest in historical and cultural subjects from women's perspectives. Over the last twenty years the Hypatia Trust has worked in the context of the male-dominated narratives on Cornish art, literature, press, politics, identity and history. Access to female subject matter and role models remains hard to access and discourses about Cornish identity in particular remain highly gender unbalanced. Given the historic significance of the UK Government and Council of Europe’s official recognition of the Cornish as a protected National Minority in April 2014,[3] it is essential women’s voices and experiences are fully recognised and widely understood. In particular, the Hypatia Trust is interested in supporting the growing consciousness amongst young people in Cornwall of their Cornishness is evident in the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC) which returned 37% identifying as Cornish in 2011, rising to 48% in 2014.[4]