Greetings from the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative!
We are excited to invite you to our spring 2026 event, Teaching Intertextuality through Wikipedia, a talk by Charles Bazerman and pedagogical workshop led by Matt Vetter and Jennifer Johnson.
This event will be held on Friday, May 1st, 4pm ET / 1pm PT (21:00 UTC) via Zoom. Please register in advance to attend and keep reading to learn more.
Teaching Intertextuality through Wikipedia
There are many reasons for building Wikipedia editing in your courses, but I will focus on one: it teaches students to locate, evaluate, synthesize, represent, and make meaningful knowledge that resides in the crowded and confusing world of texts they are surrounded by. In short, it teaches the skills of intertextuality. Since its founding in 2001, Wikipedia has increasingly built a complex human ecosystem of contribution and editing, guided by well-articulated policies and procedures which include requirements and sources for documentation from trusted resources, made transparent in the editing histories, talk pages, and extensive policy discussions and documents. Giving students the opportunity to understand and participate in that knowledge system increases their sophistication, critical eye, and ability to use the best of knowledge throughout their lives and careers, no matter what path they follow.
Charles Bazerman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of California Santa Barbara, became interested in the pedagogy of intertextuality when he found out fifty years ago that students were being asked to write about reading in courses across the university. At that time the research paper was the main vehicle for having students engage with intertextuality; now it is Wikipedia editing.
The talk will begin at 1pm PT / 4pm ET and last approximately 45 minutes, with 15 minutes for discussion. Immediately following, Matt and Jennifer will lead a workshop for engaging students with Wikipedia’s systems of reliability and intertextuality.
Register at this link! https://iupvideo.zoom.us/meeting/register/WFpvbyyJSnSbE8imnlD7OA
Learn more about us
One of the most visited websites in the world, Wikipedia has emerged within living memory as a key knowledge-broker and perception-shaper for readers and writers worldwide. Writing expert knowledge into Wikipedia is one important way we can address knowledge gaps, imbalances, and misinformation online. Established in 2019, the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative proceeds from the conviction that it matters to edit Wikipedia, especially for academics committed to knowledge equity as a fundamental groundwork for social justice. The CCCC Wikipedia Initiative is working to develop skills, cultivate inclusive community, and build structures of support and recognition for past, present, and future CCCC members who recognize the importance of engaging with Wikipedia as a form of global public humanities scholarship.
Thank you! On behalf of the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative Team,
Co-chairs Matthew A. Vetter and Jennifer K. Johnson
Matt Vetter, PhD (he/him)
Professor of English
Dept. of Language, Literature, and Writing
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Managing co-editor, Writing Spaces
Co-chair, CCCC Wikipedia Initiative
Available as open access ebook, Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality