Why do women receive so much less visibility on Wikipedia than their male counterparts? This episode explores some of the reasons—and looks at what’s needed to bring about greater gender equality. Dr. Colleen Hartung and Dr. Elizabeth Ursic introduce the 1000 Women in Religion Project and discuss its efforts to increase—and improve—biographical entries on Wikipedia about women in religion and women as religious scholars. They also share their findings on how to successfully edit and publish content for this massive online encyclopedia.
Podcast guests
Dr. Elizabeth Ursic holds a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and a PhD in religious studies from Arizona State University. She is a professor of religious studies at Mesa Community College and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her book Women, Ritual, and Power: Placing Female Imagery of God in Christian Worship (SUNY Press, 2014) is named one of the top 100 books in contemporary women’s spirituality. She serves as co-chair of the Women’s Caucus at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature. She also co-chairs the women’s task force for the Parliament of World Religions.
Colleen D. Hartung, PhD, is co-founder and chair of the 1000 Women in Religion Wikipedia Project, working to develop global programs that address gender bias on digital platforms such as Wikipedia. She teaches people around the globe how to edit and write biographical entries about women in religion. She is the author of a contribution to Polydoxy: Theology of Multiplicity and Relation, titled “Faith and Polydoxy in the Whirlwind” (Routledge, 2012). Hartung is also a homilist, as well as a developer and coordinator of the Ministry for Families and Children at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin.
