Grants:Conference/Louise000 / Art + Feminism Japan 2020/Update program

This Wikimedia Foundation grant has a fiscal sponsor. Temple University Philadephia administered the grant on behalf of Temple University, Japan.


statusFunded
Art+Feminism Japan 2020
Japanese Wikipedia, English Wikipedia, Women in Red,
targetIncreasing Participation (larger and more diverse groups of people are contributing to Wikimedia projects) (although I think all the other strategic goals listed as examples also apply)
strategic priorityWe hope to add at least 30 new users (meaning new accounts created, and helped to get over the first 10-edit milestone) and at least 50 substantial edits (meaning new or newly translated pages—more than just stubs, aiming for over 150 words and at least 3 citations—and/or augmenting existing pages to meet Wikipedia’s requirements for a good, reliable entry. We'd like to beat our previous attendance rate of around 60 attendees and attract attention from the wider community - the general public beyond the university with high profile speakers.
event dates6 March 2020 - 7 March 202031 December 2021
amount-local641,500 JPY
amountUS$6,109.52
typeorganization
nonprofitYes, fiscal sponsor, Temple University Philadelphia
organization• Temple University, Japan

Event overview edit

Purpose and vision

After waiting and hoping to host our pandemic postponed 2020 TUJ Art and Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon and panel talk, we have decided to go virtual. The ongoing pandemic continues to make an in person event in Tokyo difficult, so we are retooling for a safe and socially distanced online event. With a public and student body now at ease with Zoom and other online tools, we feel we can create a virtual event that will fulfill our original goals and more; in addition to our original plans, we will be producing a publication on the event, creating a conference proceeding that will be produced in print and online.

While the format will change, our aims remain steady: to build upon the success of previous Art + Feminism Japan events in collaboration with Temple University Japan by welcoming additional newcomers to Wikipedia from our diverse student body and the public. The event will empower our community which includes speakers of multiple languages -- English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and many more, with a focus on re-balancing the digital canon with targeted article creation, editing and translation for creative women in Japan and beyond.

The main event will include a virtual Art+Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon held in conjunction with a panel discussion by three celebrated Japanese artists who will consider the inter-connectedness of issues faced by women and artists on Wikipedia and in the digital sphere. The aim of the event is to cast a light on gender inequities in the arts and media and consider how discourse and engagement can help move towards equity. And the ideas and results will be presented in a print publication, which will also be made available online, that will serve as an additional record of the event.

There will be pre-event training with our students and fellow teachers who will mentor newcomers during the online edit-a-thon. We will publicize the event broadly and the artists/panelists, who are important figures in their fields, will raise the profile of the event and its subjects far beyond the university.

Important details

Proposed date(s) 2021/11/20
Proposed location Online, organized via Temple University Japan Campus
Number of participants 100-150
Event page PLACEHOLDER TEXT
Primary contact person Louise Rouse,Deanna MacDonald

Background edit

Community input edit

Use the results from the community engagement survey to fill in the table below. Since you cannot cover all topics or meet all needs at one event, prioritisation is important. Please rank the priority of each topic, skill, project or problem as high, medium or low. Finally, please answer the questions below the table.

Description Priority
Strategic discussions:

What are the top issues affecting your community that need to be discussed in person?

see below HIGH
Capacity development:

Are there important skills that many people in your community need to learn?

First time editors need hands on training, survey respondents mentioned meeting in person helps deal with the higher perceived threat of online bullying on Japanese Wikipedia and the nuances of online manners in Japanese Wikipedia, better understood in person with peer-to-peer support to avoid unnecessary article deletions. HIGH
Working groups:

Are there joint projects that need to be planned in person?

Editathons at TUJ are learning platforms that other faculty can potentially take into their classrooms. MED
Community building:

Are there other in-person activities are important for community building?

The survey highlighted that a third of respondents most valued panel discussions around the Art + Feminism Wikipedia priorities as well as women online generally. We take their responses to mean this is an integral part of the event we should be planning HIGH
 

Survey analysis:

  1. The survey was sent to the entire staff and faculty of Temple University Japan (about 330 people). As the deadline is coming up, the survey was only available to all for only about 2 weeks and this mostly was during summer break and in the busy few days of the term's start. As a result we had 12 responses, though these were helpful and detailed.
  2. The survey responses suggested that others see a need to create more opportunities at TUJ, and in Japan generally, for dialogue and education about representation of women in the arts and how Wikipedia is a key indicator of this situation. Respondents noted that...:
    • Women artists in Japan and globally are under-represented online, in university arts departments and in galleries
    • Training more editors and adding to Wikipedia about women in the arts can help address these issues
    • The training and editing of Wikipedia on topics about women and the arts in can empower/encourage/inform artists in Japan and elsewhere
    • Highlighting the need for dialogue and information about gender and the arts, several, referred to recent local events in Japan at the Aichi Art Triennale (see https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/world/asia/japan-aichi-trienniale.html), the most recent of a several incidents involving censorship of the arts revolving around politics, history, women’s bodies and women artists.
    • Others noted the need to work to create gender equality in the arts and on Wikipedia

Context edit

1. What inspired your community to begin planning this event?
Inequality in gender representation in Japan is quite pronounced in all aspects of life, including the arts and academia. Even though we work at the Tokyo campus of a US university, the gender disparity is evident and reflective of the low number of women professors in Japan's universities, in particular in arts departments. This despite the fact that the same departments often have a high enrollment of women students. This image https://partner-web.jp/image/record1.php?id=26260 shows the number of female art professors at the top art and music schools in Japan -- between 14-47% (note that the school that is 47% women professors, is a women-ONLY art school and even they do not have parity...)
We noticed that the number of female professors in Japan in all subjects, but particularly art, is low; whereas the number of female students is high
There's a great blog post by Tokyo National University of the Arts from their symposium here:
https://partner-web.jp/article/?id=1648 (Japanese)
This website shows the number of students at the same schools (sources of the data are cited below tables), with around 70% of the students as female:
https://partner-web.jp/article/?id=1722 (Japanese)
This got us to thinking about our own department and institution. At first we thought to use a small university grant to providing stipends for student workers for a semester to help audit our library for various gender biases in the collection and to raise awareness about the issue. Later, we found that the structure of Art + Feminism x Wikipedia gave a more interactive way to bring attention to this issue and directly contribute to change in gender representation in a way that went beyond the university. Each event has brought the project on a little more, and increased Wikipedia skills among faculty and students. So rather than a one-off event, we see these events as a long term investment.
As well, several incidents in the arts community in Japan, such as the controversy surrounding the art of Rokudenashiko, aka Megumi Igarashi (who particpated in our 2018 event), inspired us to try and open up a conversation about the challenges of women in the arts in our own art/academic community
2. How does this event relate to other activities that your community is working on?
We have connected with the Art + Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon at the main campus of Temple University in Philadephia and we are also integrating a Wikipedia project into our class curriculum which we think is the best way to support the yearly event and keep things rolling throughout the year. Since the success of our 2018 Art + Feminism Wikipeida Edit-a-thon and conference, the art history department is now teaching on a regular basis courses such as "Women and Art" and "Feminist Art Theory".
3. Please list the priorities identified in the report from the last conference organized by this community. What progress have you made in those areas?
The main goals in the last event were adding new editors and increasing articles. We met or exceeded the goals we had. See link below to the report.
4. If your community has hosted a similar conference in the past, what key lessons were learned, and what would you like to improve on
The main things we identified as points of learning were how best to smoothly transition newcomers into the Wikipedia environment e.g. the 4-day wait to publish articles. The logistics of the day went as planned and most of what we learned was about fine tuning.
Grants:Project/Rapid/TUJ • ART+FEMINISM • WIKIPEDIA EDIT-A-THON/Report

Plan edit

Venue and Logistics edit

1. If the venue is more than 1 hour away from a major airport or transportation hub, how will participants travel to the event venue?
It will be online. The print zine will be available in Tokyo at TUJ, mailed to universities in Japan that have departments that relate to the themes of this event as well as in a digital format.
2. Is the event venue within walking distance from the hotel? If not, how will people travel between the two locations? N/A
3. Is the event venue and hotel accessible for people with physical disabilities? N/A
4. Do you anticipate any challenges with using the space for the event you are planning? N/A

Friendly space policy edit

Art+Feminism Safe Space policy

Participation edit

It is crucial that most participants have a minimum level of Wikimedia experience so that they can engage actively in workshops and discussions. Please answer all applicable questions below.

: 1. Please describe the target audience for this conference or event.

Broadly, the student body of Temple Univeristy Japan. More specifically, some students at TUJ who have done in-class projects with Wikipedia in preparation for the event. Also students who have not - newcomers - who will be peer-taught in multiple decentralized workshops by a team of student workers. The faculty at TUJ, some of whom are active Wikipedia users, others are rusty, others are newcomers. And also, members of the public who attend.

: 2. If your conference has an outreach component, how will you ensure engagement with these participants after the conference, and what impact do you see them having on the projects?

The institution is a hub for outreach and sustained engagement as students take multiple classes with the same teachers. At the main campus of Temple university we have further resources for integrating Wikipedia into the curriculum so extra resources are available to those faculty whose interest is piqued to include it as a strategy in their classrooms. We are a point of meeting for the public as well, and we hope to at least track their attendance through sign in at the event, and contacting them to see if they need help to upload their article after the event, and to notify them of future events.

: 3. Are you thinking about inviting WMF staff to attend or participate in the event? If yes, please list individuals or teams who you may want to invite, or describe how you would like WMF staff to be involved in the event.

We would be extremely happy to welcome locally based WMF staff to attend or participate. We need to find suitable members since there aren't so many based in Japan.

Scholarships edit

1. How many scholarships would you like to offer?
2. What expenses will the scholarship cover?
3. How will scholarship recipients be selected?
Knowledge of Japanese Wikipedia and service to Japanese Wikipedia community

Resources and risks edit

Describe the resource potential for successfully executing this project and the key risks/threats.

Resources edit

Organizing team
Team User Names
WMF Liaison Louise000 (talk) , DM180(talk)
Logistics Louise000 (talk)
Conference Program Louise000 (talk), DM180(talk)
Scholarships DM180(talk)
Communications Marketing Department of TUJ
Volunteer Coordinators DM180(talk)

3 Art faculty members have volunteered for a shift of either coordinating peer teachers or greeting at registration table

Other team members 3 x student workers acting as peer-to-peer teachers

The library and librarians will help with access to their online sources for editing

Other resources

• Access to TUJ physical and online libraries and databases

• Access to Showa Women's University physical library (partner university we share a campus with)

• Growing compiled list of women artists from successive events selected for article creation/translation/editing

Risks edit

  • Components of the measurement process that are hard to quantify, specifically the manpower to track users input after the event

how to minimize these risks include:

  • Working with the WMF Learning & Evaluation Team to develop an appropriate measurement and evaluation plan.

After discussing the above two risks and their importance as pointed out in the review stage by WMF facilitators, we propose the following evaluation plan

Evaluation Plan

  • We will measure outcomes in various ways, such as:
    • Number of new edits
    • Number of new pages
    • Number of new editors
    • Student assignments (as we are planning to have Wikipedia based assignments in our classes which will be graded and contribute to the above)
    • As an annual event, we hope to see a growing body of experienced editors among faculty and students.

Success for us would be a combination of the above which will help build up our base of knowledgeable and experienced editors in our university which will help us in the classroom and to have other events like the Art+Feminism editathon in the future.

Budget edit

Event budget table
Event costs Estimated cost in JPY ¥ Estimated cost USD (@105) Subtotal (yen) Subtotal (USD @105)
Previously spent from 2020 preparation ↓ Previous subtotal
0 Previous costs already accrued (design fee, social media advertising, cups, plates, pens, student workers) 102992 980.88 102992 980.88
Publicity
1 Printing costs for conference proceeding document 265000 2523.81
2 Social media advertising 10000 95.24 ↓ Publicity subtotal
3 Postage 10000 95.24 285000 2,714.29
Raffle prizes for edit-a-thon participants ↓ Prizes subtotal
4 3 sets of 2 art exhibit tickets 6000 57.14 6000 57.14
Student workers for editathon
Fee per hour, wage is set by the university 1015 9.67
Total number of workers 3 3 ↓ Student worker subtotal
5 Number of hours per student 6 6 18270 174
Translation ↓ Translation subtotal
6 Translation & Editing 120,000 1142.86 120,000 1142.86
Evening panel discussion costs
7 Speaker honorarium (¥25,000 each) 100000 952.38 ↓ Panel subtotal
8 Foreword honorarium 25000 238.1 125000 1190.48

TOTAL edit

¥657,262


$6,259.64 (@105)


Total cost of event
$6,259.64
Total amount requested from the Conference and Event Grants program
$6,109.52
Additional sources of revenue that may fund part of this event, and amounts funded
No confirmed sources
Please confirm that you are aware that changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.
Confirmed

Discussion edit

Endorsements edit

Do you think this project should be selected for a Conference Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.

  • I think this is a good project because it makes a good resource and starting point for further research about female artists in Japan. Without a foundation like this, it makes the task of research much harder and thus less likely to happen. It also helps build a community where people can network and create new projects. TheSpendyPencil (talk)
  • Providing a Conference Grant for this event will help to build upon the success of the 2018 Art + Feminism Japan event and give the event broader exposure. Support will help to sustain and create even more momentum towards the much needed diversification of Wikipedia's information in regards to underrepresented Japanese women artists and creatives. Nichijoseikatsu (talk) 10:56, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
  • This event helps people who work in the art field to learn more about wikipedia and by learning more about it, everyone can participate to develop and improve all form of information contained in Wikipedia that is related to art and feminism practice, women artist, and all forms of artistic activity related to the issue of gender equality most importantly in Japan. Yonathanalbert (talk) 14:10, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
  • This project will deliver tangible benefits, through the delivery of skills training, content creation and the formation of cohesive network of students and mentors. The project builds on the previous experience of the delivery team and is set to be an exemplary event. Srsrsr12 (talk) 09:56, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
  • This is an important project, Women artists are seriously underrepresented online, on Wikipedia around the world and markedly so in Japan. Chiverscraig (talk) 10:03, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
  • I strongly support this Jonnwu (talk) 14:24, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
  • I strongly support this project. Mtsuruya (talk) 14:44, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
  • A very much needed to support women in Art. Tintinhtun (talk) 01:09, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

This project is not only extremely important on its own merits but as the Dean of Temple University's Japan Campus, the proposed venue, I feel that it will also have an important for the education of our students. I strongly endorse it. Bruce Stronach, Dean, TUJ

• I strongly support this project. - George Miller (associate dean for academic affairs, Temple University, Japan Campus)

  • Obviously a very important step in increasing visibility of women in art, and correcting a number of historical misunderstandings. John Mock 99 (talk) 02:12, 8 September 2019 (UTC)

- I strongly support this event - this is a much necessary gesture to highlight artists that have been neglected from the "canon". Mariko Nagai, Professor and Director of Research, Temple University, Japan Campus

  • I strongly endorse this project—this project helps give credibility and visibility to neglected individuals, the neglect of which is a reflection of Japanese society. I have been involved in the primary contacts' past wiki-a-thons and can readily attest to their strong organizational skills and abilities to create and monitor these kinds of events both in-person and virtually. Meowgatron (talk) 16:55, 9 September 2019 (UTC)
  • Japanese community is a strong one. This conference would be great way to promote wikipedia and gender gap issues and connect Japanese community better with a global community. Looking forward to this conference. Best wishes Wikilover90 (talk) 17:11, 13 September 2019 (UTC)
  • This sounds like a very interesting event that should definitely be supported. From where I come, gender gap is a major challenge, and even if it's in the other side of the globe, I am sure it is as well in Japan. Willing to contribute remotely to enlarge the outreach of such event! --Kawayashu (talk) 16:41, 15 October 2019 (UTC)