Anjelika Deogirikar Grossman (she/her) is a Washington, DC educator, activist artist, researcher, and social practitioner. Through her public humanities practice, she explores ways to understand how creativity is an asset for individuals and communities. Interested in the connection between culture, community building, and public policy, Anjelika is curious to explore: How might arts and culture build understanding and communities of belonging? A FY25 grantee of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Fellowship Program, Anjelika is an artist-in-residence at The Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Currently a MA Candidate in Engaged and Public Humanities, Anjelika holds a Master of Public Policy and a BS in Biological Science and Chemistry minor. In addition, Anjelika received a Certificate in Arts and Peacebuilding Culture from the Political Leadership Academy at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.
Editing for Equity: Closing the Wikipedia Gender Gap through Community-Centered Engagement
In March 2024, I launched Georgetown University’s Wikipedia Edit-a-thon during Women’s History Month to tackle the known gender gap on Wikipedia and to increase the representation of women editors, and entries about women. With partnerships including the Wikimedia Foundation, WikiDC, and 23 centers, departments and programs across Georgetown, we have hosted two in-person Edit-a-thons and one virtually. From the start, this programming was launched with three learning goals: 1) Educate and train community members (students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the public) to edit and create Wikipedia entries; 2) Contribute to closing the “gender gap” on Wikipedia (both of contributors and entries), and 3) Build community by creating partnerships with different constituency groups across campus. With the goal to present this research project in the form of a case study, I hope to explore some questions including: How might Georgetown University tackle the “gender gap” on Wikipedia with a community-centered intersectional lens? If the gender gap on Wikipedia is a known problem and AI training models are using data from Wikipedia, how might we ensure that AI training models are not perpetuating known biases?