Wikipedia Project: Students Strengthen Public Knowledge on European Identity

In total, the students worked on eleven articles in the German- and English-language versions of Wikipedia. The range of topics extended from empirical data sources such as the European Social Survey—a cross-national data collection that measures attitudes and behavioral patterns among the European population—to social-psychological concepts such as the contact hypothesis, which assumes that contact between members of different social groups can reduce prejudice under certain conditions, as well as cultural policy initiatives such as the European Capitals of Culture. The seminar “From Erasmus to Eurovision: Sociological Perspectives on European Identity” was led by Dr. Nicole Schwitter from the Chair of Political Science, Evidence-Based Political Research.

For the students, the seminar held a particular appeal: instead of writing a term paper solely for the teacher, they wrote for a potentially global audience. 

The seminar was deliberately designed to foster not only subject-specific expertise but also digital competencies.  Students had to critically assess sources, evaluate existing articles, follow neutrality rules and Wikimedia standards, and implement academic standards within an open online format.

The topic of the seminar was particularly well suited to this approach: “European identity is widely debated in both political and societal contexts.  It is therefore all the more important that well-founded research findings are presented in a way that is understandable and freely accessible,” says Dr. Nicole Schwitter.

Links to selected Wikipedia articles edited by the students:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontakthypothese
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejection-Identification_Model
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaler_Nationalismus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_values
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Europeanism