Australia not a country

[Nearly Sane]

According to one professor


http://www.careerspot.com.au/global-news/education-australia-not-a-country-according-to-us-prof

[Gordon]

I suspect this Prof is perhaps a graduate of the Sir Les Patterson University.

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Possibly he has confused Oz with Ant?

[Harrowby Hall]

I suspect this Prof is perhaps a graduate of the Sir Les Patterson University.

But she is an American professor working in an American university. It is more likely that she graduated from the Trump University - which was a real organisation!


ETA - Professor's sex amended.

[Walter]

According to one professor


http://www.careerspot.com.au/global-news/education-australia-not-a-country-according-to-us-prof

country or continent? It still smarts a bit when your plane crashes into it !

[jeremyp]

I suspect this Prof is perhaps a graduate of the Sir Les Patterson University.

I seriously doubt it as she doesn't know Australia is a country.

[SteveH]

country or continent?

What is the difference between an island and a continent? Why aren't Africa, Europe and Asia considered a giant island? I believe that opinion is divided about whether Australia is one or the other. If it's a continent, it's the only single-country one, although Western Australia came close to seceeding in the 30s.

[Humph Warden Bennett]

What is the difference between an island and a continent? Why aren't Africa, Europe and Asia considered a giant island? I believe that opinion is divided about whether Australia is one or the other. If it's a continent, it's the only single-country one, although Western Australia came close to seceeding in the 30s.

I think it is a question of whether it dominates a continental plate or not? There are sometimes references to "Afroeurasia", but they are usually considered to be continents who are currently, but temporarily (in the long term sense of the history of the planet) joined together.

Western Oz seceding? That is a new one on me, my understanding is that Western Oz is the City of Perth,and what a female backpacker described to me as "Thousands of miles of bumfuck nothing".

[Spud]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia#/media/File:LocationAustralasia.png

Australia is a country in Australasia... One of the things they teach at big school

[Humph Warden Bennett]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia#/media/File:LocationAustralasia.png

Australia is a country in Australasia... One of the things they teach at big school

I thought it was Oceania?

[Humph Warden Bennett]

An interesting piece of useless info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealandia

[SteveH]

Western Oz seceding? That is a new one on me, my understanding is that Western Oz is the City of Perth,and what a female backpacker described to me as "Thousands of miles of bumfuck nothing".

That's what i read somewhere - it was on the internet, so it must be true.

[Harrowby Hall]

Update

It would seem (if a question on Quora is correct) that the professor involved has been sacked. One response is as follows:

The female professor with PhD in philosophy, whose name is being kept private, was still not convinced, however, and said she needed to conduct “some independent research on the continent/country issue.” After reviewing Arnold’s paper the professor gave her a new grade of a B+, but never apologized, merely acknowledging that she had a “misunderstanding about the difference between Australia as a country and a continent.”

Shocked by the lecturer’s reasoning, the student filed a report with the university, which eventually resulted in the professor’s termination and a formal apology to Arnold – and all Australians.

It should be remembered that the title "professor" in the American HE context does not carry the prestige that the title does in the British HE context. Practically anyone who has a teaching role in the USA is called "professor" whilst in the UK the title is usually given to a senior academics with an impressive research and publication record - and possibly a head of department. In this instance the woman was an "adjunct professor" which in the British context would possibly be a "demonstrator".