Start Date: 3/7/2025 9:00 AM EST
End Date: 3/7/2025 9:00 PM EST
Venue Name: Wikipedia
Location:
United States
Join the COGEL Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on March 7th (9a-9p EST)!
Did you know that less than 20% of biographies on Wikipedia are currently dedicated to notable women, and far lower for other minoritized genders? And that number used to be even lower, only 15% just a few years ago. What’s changed? Dedicated efforts by projects like Women in Red are making a difference, increasing the representation of the notable contributions of women and other minoritized genders. But there is still more work to be done!
COGEL is doing its part within the world of linguistics: our fifth annual Wikipedia Edit-a-thon is a community initiative to improve the gender equity of representation among linguists on Wikipedia. Anyone is welcome to join in, whether you are an experienced Wikipedia editor or have never even thought about editing an article! LSA membership is not required.
This year’s event will be held on Friday, March 7th, in honor of International Women’s Day, which has been commemorated every year since 1911. And in the US, March has been designated Women's History Month since 1981. What better way to mark the occasion than by improving the gender equity of representation among linguists on Wikipedia!
The COGEL Wikipedia Edit-a-thon will be a virtual event, open for 12 hours on March 7th, to allow participants from different time zones to join in and work as part of a virtual community for as much time as you would like to contribute. Experienced Wikipedia editors will be available during this entire period to answer questions, help troubleshoot, and help new editors get started. Some tips for how to prepare for the event will be sent along with the registration confirmation.
Besides helping to correct systemic biases in the topics and people represented in Wikipedia, here are other reasons to join in:
- It contributes to a massive worldwide project with the goal of democratizing knowledge and making information easily accessible.
- It helps you get to know more about your field.
- It gives you practice explaining linguistic ideas, and the field as a whole, to non-specialists.
- It will win you kudos from the linguistics community.
- You will have fun sharing this experience with a community of like-minded linguists!
Register using this link, and we’ll look forward to working alongside you on March 7th!