BGSU Zoom News

Monday, January 29, 2018

Kalaf-Hughes and Cravens in Wikipedia Fellows pilot | BGSU shines at intercollegiate mediation tournament

R.G. Cravens (left) and Niki Kalaf-Hughes are participating in the Wikipedia Fellows pilot program.

BUILDING A MORE TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE
KALAF-HUGHES AND CRAVENS NAMED TO WIKIPEDIA FELLOWS PILOT

Although loved by the general public as an instant source of information on almost any topic, Wikipedia has been held in low regard by many academics because, as an open source encyclopedia, the reliability of that information can be suspect. Some faculty, such as Dr. Niki Kalaf-Hughes, a Bowling Green State University assistant professor of political science, do not allow their students to cite Wikipedia as a source.

Aware of this reputation, Wikipedia has initiated an interdisciplinary pilot program through its Wiki Education arm to get more academics involved as subject-matter experts to help ensure that its entries are accurate and bring more rigor and diversity to the resource. The pilot is beginning with nine people from the fields of political science, sociology and women’s studies.

Remarkably, of the three chosen in political science, two are from BGSU. Kalaf-Hughes and lecturer Dr. R.G. Cravens are participating in the Wikipedia Fellows pilot. And, as they learned when the fellows from across the country held their first online “meet and greet,” they are not the only participants with a BGSU connection. Dr. Jenn Brandt, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and an assistant professor of English at High Point University, is an alumna.

Planetarium programs – The Blade
Multicultural Student Center and LGBTQ+ Resource Center grand opening – Sentinel-Tribune

The BGSU Mediation Team (left to right) Alyssa Reinhardt, Andrew Reynolds, Phil Rich, Neil Browne, Linda Li, Hannah Tschappat and Liam Garrett. Not pictured: Will Robinson, Amanda Fairbairn and Aaron Moots

BGSU SHINES AT INTERCOLLEGIATE MEDIATION TOURNAMENT

Building upon a track record of success over 12 years of mock trial competition, Bowling Green State University has become widely recognized for fielding the premier mediation team in the country in just three years.

Dr. Neil Browne, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics Emeritus, who holds both J.D. and Ph.D. degrees, has served as faculty adviser and coach with both BGSU teams and points to how the two competitions could not be more different in tone and the skill sets they are designed to sharpen. Yet, success in mock trial has laid a solid foundation for high performance in the gentler yet equally strategic arena of alternative dispute resolution.

“I believe one of the advantages we have is the mock trial background,” said Browne. “That certainly seems paradoxical, yet it makes sense when you look at the kind of preparation it took to do well against more than 650 intercollegiate mock trial teams.”

It started with one of the things BGSU does best as a public mid-major university — overcoming the odds in competition against schools like Miami that have a million-dollar mock trial endowment or a UCLA team that advertises for students with acting experience in television and movies.