COLLEGE PROFESSOR UNAWARE THAT AUSTRALIA IS BOTH A COUNTRY AND A CONTINENT

Ashley Arnold, a 27-year-old resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a stay-at-home mom completing an online sociology degree with Southern New Hampshire University. As part of her final class, students were required to compare a social norm in the U.S. and another country. Arnold picked social media use, and for her country she chose Australia. But when Arnold got her grade back on February 1, she was shocked to see an F. Why? Because, according to the teacher, “Australia is a continent; not a country.” The professor, who has a PhD in philosophy, had given Arnold zero points in multiple sections of the assignment because she believed that Australia wasn’t a real country. Arnold wrote a lengthy email to the professor, trying to convince her Australia, the country, does indeed exist. The professor wrote back:
“I will gladly re-examine your week 2 milestone project report. But before I do I want you to understand that any error in a project can invalidate the entire research project. Australia is a continent; it is not a country. That error made it nearly impossible for you to accurately complete your week 2 research outline correctly.”
Finally, after some more back-and-forthing, the professor gave Arnold a new grade this week: a B+. She never apologized for the error, but did acknowledge she had a “misunderstanding about the difference between Australia as a country and a continent.” And then, last Friday, the University said that they had apologized to Arnold and had replaced her professor. They were also going to refund her $1,000 for the course.
* “Please don’t sue us for having never vetted the professor,” said the University.
* Bet you anything the online “professor” is some 24-year-old hipster punk working on a laptop out of a Starbucks.
* You know how to be a Sociology professor? Two words: “Compare” and “Contrast”. Tell all your students to compare and contrast everything. Sociology!
* Think that’s unconscionable? Check out this quote: “There’s no reason the nation of Africa cannot and should not join the ranks of the world’s most prosperous nations in the near term, in the decades ahead.” That was Vice President Joe Biden, a year ago this month. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2717393/Gaffe-tastic-Joe-Biden-thinks-Africa-country-not-continent.html)
* Of course, to be fair, Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country, too.