(Re)Writing 'Feminism in Canada': Wikipedia in the Feminist Classroom

In the winter of 2012, the students in the author's fourth-year seminar, The Politics of the Canadian Women's Movement, undertook the project of editing, updating, and expanding a number of Wikipedia articles, including the page on "Feminism in Canada." Though it often serves as a first point of reference for research on Canadian feminism, this Wikipedia page had long been underdeveloped, overlooking significant historical events, recent contributions, and the work of feminists outside of the English-speaking, white, middle-class mainstream. This article chronicles the theory behind and practice of doing this assignment with the author's students. The article begins by exploring the principles of feminist pedagogy, and how technologies like Wikipedia contest or support such principles. It then describes how she and her students undertook this project, followed by an assessment of the project's benefits and the challenges it raised. The article concludes by extending an invitation to feminist activists and academics to employ Wikipedia in their own classrooms, both as a means to realize feminist pedagogical goals and to improve Wikipedia's coverage of feminist issues.