July 2026 Blog
Helping Your Students Challenge Stereotypes about Scientists Through Wikipedia Jörg Matthias Determann A historian at a university in Qatar seeks to expand knowledge about science and religion by asking his students to edit the free encyclopedia. A Meta-Wiki Page Header Image Designed by the Wikimedia Foundation for Wikipedia’s 25th Birthday “Most scientists are atheists,” an undergraduate student of mine asserted toward the beginning of a history of science course I taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar in spring 2026. Intrigued, I wanted to find more about her sample. I asked her whether she thought that the scientists who were working on our own campus did not believe in God. She responded rather vaguely that she meant researchers “outside.” I quietly wondered how many physicists or
