Adrianne Wadewitz | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | April 8, 2014 | (aged 37)
Nationality | United States |
Occupation | Academic |
Adrianne Wadewitz (January 6, 1977 – April 8, 2014) was an American feminist scholar of 18th-century British literature, a noted Wikipedian, and commenter upon (particularly) gender issues in Wikipedia.
Biography
Adrianne Wadewitz was born on January 6, 1977, in Omaha, Nebraska to Betty M. and Nathan R. Wadewitz.[1][2] She studied English literature and received a degree in English from Columbia University in 1999.[3] In 2011 she obtained a Ph.D. from Indiana University and became a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Digital Learning and Research at Occidental College. She was chosen as a Mellon Digital Scholarship Postdoctoral Fellow and a HASTAC scholar.[1]
Academic career
Education
Wadewitz received her masters and doctoral degrees in British literature with a minor in 18th-century studies from Indiana University.[4] Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University.
While in graduate school, she completed both a master's thesis, "'Doubting Thomas': The Failure of Religious Appropriation in The Age of Reason" (2003),[5] as well as her doctoral dissertation, 'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775–1815 (2011).[6] The latter combined her research interests in archival work, children's literature, and gender studies. It argued that the kinds of subjectivity displayed in late eighteenth-century children's literature challenged "the dominant Lockean model" by drawing upon "Rousseau's theory of education and the discourse of sensibility to construct a 'sympathetic self.'...Significantly, this "sympathetic self" was available to both sexes and to children. Unlike other versions of the self based on sensibility, it was not predicated upon femininity. Moreover, maturation did not depend on age, but rather on one's state of mind; any person educated through this sympathetic literature could be an adult and participate in civic society through, for example, charitable acts." Moreover, in its conclusion, through its analysis of ""how childhood reading informed the reading of 'adult' novels by Jane Austen," it argued that "that contemporary readers of Austen would have read her novels 'didactically' and followed the structural patterns of the children's literature they grew up reading rather than seeing the irony we value today."[7].
Publications
In 2009, she was a co-editor with Pamela Gay-White for a special issue on didacticism in eighteenth-century children's literature in the academic journal, The Lion and the Unicorn.[8]
Her publications include:
- "A Doctor for Who(m)?: Queer Temporalities and the Sexualized Child," with Mica Hilson. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature 52. 1 (January 2014): pp. 63-76 [9]
- "Wiki-hacking: Opening up the Academy with Wikipedia," with Anne Ellen Geller and Jon Beasley-Murray. Hacking the Academy. Eds. Tom Scheinfeldt and Dan Cohen. University of Michigan Press (2011).[10]
- "Introduction: 'Performing the Didactic," with Pamela Gay-White. The Lion and the Unicorn 33.2 (2009): v-vii.[11]
Digital humanities
In 2009, Wadewitz began putting The New England Primer online, culminating in a permanent online exhibit in 2012, with text and annotated transcriptions.[12]
She published on topics including 18th-century children's literature, ambiguity in historical scholarship, and use of Wikipedia in the classroom.[13][self-published source?]
In her doctoral dissertation, 'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775–1815 (2011), Wadewitz studied the use of language and discursive strategies such as embedded narratives in children's books by Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Charlotte Smith, Maria Edgeworth, and others. She argued that through such reading, the child was supported in the construction of a "sympathetic self" that was "collective, benevolent, and imaginative."[14]
Writing about the use of Wikipedia in education, she argued that in addition to traditional writing and research skills, students should develop skills in media and technological literacy. Reflecting on the construction of knowledge, she emphasized the need to assess sources; distinguish between fact-based and persuasive writing; and be aware of authority and legitimacy. She promoted the development of curricula that included collaborative writing, development of writing skills in the context of a “community of practice”, and writing for a global readership.[citation needed]
Wikipedia editing and advocacy
Wadewitz made her first edit on Wikipedia in 2004 and went on to create articles on female writers and scholars, several of them becoming featured articles. She made nearly 50,000 edits in all.[3]
As a major promoter of getting more women to edit Wikipedia to help end systematic bias, she said, "We need more female editors, more feminists (who can be editors of any gender), and more editors willing to work on content related to women. The single most underrepresented group on Wikipedia is married women of color with children."[15]
She increasingly became seen as an authority on Wikipedia, and particularly on the encyclopedia's gender issues, and was cited as such by organizations such as the BBC.[16]
Wadewitz also served on the board of the Wiki Education Foundation, whose Board Chair and Executive Director noted that "her impact on work promoting Wikipedia as a teaching tool can be seen throughout the Education Program."[17]
Later life and death
Wadewitz enjoyed rock climbing, which she described as enabling "a new narrative about herself beyond that of a bookish, piano-playing Wikipedia contributor."[18]
On April 8, 2014, she died from head injuries sustained a week earlier in a rock climbing fall at Joshua Tree National Park, while rappeling the Cathouse formation in the Lost Horse area.[19][20] Sue Gardner, the executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, described Wadewitz's death as a "huge loss" and said she may have been Wikipedia's "single biggest contributor on ... female authors [and] women's history".[3]
Doctoral dissertation
- Wadewitz, Adrianne (2011), 'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775-1815, Ann Arbor, MI: Dissertation Abstracts International. Order Number 3466388. Indiana University.
References
- ^ a b Davidson, Cathy. "Remembering Adrianne Wadewitz: Scholar, Communicator, Teacher, Leader". HASTAC. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ Elaine Woo (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c Cohen, Noam (2014-04-18). "Adrianne Wadewitz, 37, Wikipedia Editor, Dies After Rock Climbing Fall". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae of Adrianne Wadewitz". Academia.edu. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ Wadewitz, Adrianne. ""'Doubting Thomas': The Failure of Religious Appropriation in The Age of Reason"". Indiana University. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ Wadewitz, Adrianne (2011), 'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775-1815, Ann Arbor, MI: Dissertation Abstracts International, p. vi. Order Number 3466388. Indiana University.
- ^ Wadewitz, Adrianne (2011). "'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775-1815". IUCat. p. vi. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ Pamela Gay-White and Adrianne Wadewitz. "Introduction: "Performing the Didactic"." The Lion and the Unicorn 33.2 (2009): v-vii. Project MUSE. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
- ^ Wadewitz, Adrianne and Mica Hilson, "A Doctor for Who(m)?: Queer Temporalities and the Sexualized Child.", Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature 52.1 (2014): 63-76.
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(help) - ^ Scheinfeldt, Tom and Dan Cohen, Hacking the Academy, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, retrieved 23 April 2014
- ^ Pamela Gay-White. and Adrianne Wadewitz. "Introduction: "Performing the Didactic"." The Lion and the Unicorn 33.2 (2009): v-vii. Project MUSE. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
- ^ New England Primer exhibit and analysis, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Selected Works of Adrienne Wadewitz, bepress. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Wadewitz, Adrianne (2011), 'Spare the Sympathy, Spoil the Child:' Sensibility, Selfhood, and the Maturing Reader, 1775-1815, Ann Arbor, MI: Dissertation Abstracts International, p. vi. Order Number 3466388. Indiana University.
- ^ Mehrotra, Karishma (26 March 2014). "Universities 're-write' Wikipedia to fill holes, include women". USA Today. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ Garrison, Lynsea (April 7, 2014). "How can Wikipedia woo women editors?". BBC. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Strassmann, Diana; Schulenberg, Frank (April 10, 2014). "Wikipedia:Wiki Education Foundation/Adrianne". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
- ^ Cohen, Noam (2014-04-18). "Adrianne Wadewitz, 37, Wikipedia Editor, Dies After Rock Climbing Fall". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-18. See Wadewitz, Adrianne (August 12, 2013), "What I learned as the worst student in the class", HASTAC.
- ^ Albrinck, Jennie (1 April 2014). "Busy Weekend for Search and Rescue at Joshua Tree National Park". Joshua Tree National Park. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ Newkirk, Barrett (2014-04-18). "Wikipedia editor Adrianne Wadewitz dies in Palm Springs". The Desert Sun. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
External links
- Wadewitz's blog on the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory website
- Alex Juhasz and Anne Balsamo, Tribute to Adrianne Wadewitz, The New School, FemTechNet blog, April 10, 2014.