u/SpookyShackleford

I have encountered problems in the past with students citing AI-generated sources, but never like this.

A student recently turned in a history paper where the sources had nothing to do with the topic. Try to imagine a history paper using sources on the composition of cosmetics. Just completely random AI slop.

The kicker is, at my school, using AI as a standalone tool is not exactly something we can act on. Something else has to be attached to it. So I gave the usual warning to check sources and make sure the sources actually support the paper.

Then the next assignment comes in and it happens again.

The textbook is provided. They could simply cite the textbook. Even with AI, they can do that much.

This time, they went to the trouble of trying to vet the citations a bit, but somehow made them worse. They cited page 78 of a book that only has 77 pages. Another source was listed but never cited in the paper. A third citation referenced page 102 of a source that only goes to page 98.

So what are we doing?

In the past, I was reprimanded by my lead for over-vetting sources, saying that even in their PhD program, their chair did not even go in and check sources. I have two master's so it's not like I haven't been through grad school myself, and I absolutely was held to a high standard. It is what it is, though. Thanks for letting me vent all.

I recently completed the M.A. in American Studies through UMPI's YourPace program and figured I'd share some thoughts for anyone considering it.

Before I start, one quick note. Due to school policy, I can't share specific assignment details, essay requirements, word counts, discussion prompts, or other course materials. I can talk about my overall experience, the workload, instructors, and course content at a high level, but not the specifics of individual assignments.

Overall, I thought it was a good program. If I'm being completely honest, I do wish UMPI offered a traditional History master's degree, as that's where most of my interests lie. That said, I enjoyed most of the program and don't regret completing it at all.

For me, Professor Kimberly Sebold was the standout instructor. I completed both my bachelor's degree and this master's degree through UMPI, and my opinion of her never changed. She is tough, her classes are extremely research intensive, and she expects a lot from her students. At the same time, she's fair, approachable, and genuinely wants her students to succeed. AMS 560 in particular was the most labor intensive course I took in either degree program, but it was also the course that improved my research abilities the most.

Professor Patrick Callaway also did a good job. He was probably the fastest grader I had at UMPI and his feedback was generally useful. My only criticism is that I occasionally noticed inconsistencies between draft and final grades. There were multiple occasions where a draft would receive full points and the final submission would come back with a lower grade despite very few changes. It wasn't a major issue, but it was frustrating when it happened.

One thing worth mentioning is that instructor assignments can vary by term. Not every section of these courses will necessarily be taught by Professor Callaway. When I looked through previous terms, I noticed some courses were occasionally taught by other instructors, including Professor Dobbs. Based on my experience with him during the undergraduate History program, I would personally wait for a different instructor if given the choice.

Professor William Jenkins was perfectly cromulent as well. I'd compare him to Dr. Hinson from the undergraduate program. His expectations were clear, the rubrics matched the grading, and if you follow directions and do the work, you'll do well in his classes.

Unlike my bachelor's degree and my MAOL, which I completed in a single term, this degree took me two terms. The primary reason was the amount of research required in Professor Sebold's courses. Those classes simply aren't the type of courses you can rush through. Looking back, I actually think that's one of the program's strengths. The research demands force you to develop skills that will serve you well in future graduate work. If every course in the program had been as demanding as AMS 560, I suspect it would have taken me three or four terms to finish.

Overall, my experience with UMPI has been genuinely life changing. Between my bachelor's degree, my MAOL, and now the M.A. in American Studies, UMPI opened doors that simply would not have been available to me otherwise. I'm planning to continue on to doctoral study next, and I feel much better prepared because of the research skills I developed here.

If you're considering the program and enjoy history, research, and writing, I think it's worth a serious look. Finding UMPI ended up being one of the best educational decisions I've ever made.

My course reviews are as follows:

AMS 500: Discovering and Interpreting Local History (Professor Kimberly Sebold)

If you came from UMPI's History program, this course will feel very familiar. You'll be back in Maple Grove working with many of the same types of sources you used before.

Like all of Professor Sebold's courses, this is a research intensive class and you'll earn every point you get. The assignments aren't difficult, but they do require time and attention to detail. If you're comfortable working with primary sources and historical records, you'll do fine.

Overall, I thought it was a solid introduction to the program and a good way to get back into the research mindset before moving into the later courses.

AMS 501: Oral History (Professor Kimberly Sebold)

If you completed UMPI's undergraduate History program, this course will feel very familiar. The format is similar to the Oral History course offered in the bachelor's program. You'll select a topic, conduct interviews, transcribe them, and organize your findings into a final project.

For my project, I interviewed several people about their experiences surrounding 9/11. As with most oral history projects, the quality of your experience will depend largely on your topic and the people you choose to interview.

The course itself isn't especially difficult, but transcription takes time, so don't wait until the last minute. If you've already completed the undergraduate Oral History course, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

AMS 510: Makers of America (Patrick Callaway)

This course examines the role ordinary people played in shaping early America from the colonial period through the American Revolution. If you have a history background, much of the material will be familiar, but the course does a good job of highlighting perspectives that are often overlooked in traditional narratives.

Professor Callaway is a very quick grader and I always found his feedback fair and useful. My only real frustration was that there were times where I would receive a 4/4 on a draft submission, make few or no changes, submit the final, and end up with a lower grade. This happened more than once throughout his courses and could be a little confusing.

Overall, the assignments were straightforward, the expectations were clear, and the course provided a solid foundation for several of the topics covered later in the program.

AMS 520: Cold War America (Patrick Callaway)

This course covers the Cold War from both a global and American perspective, but a lot of the focus is on how it affected everyday life in the United States. Topics like anti communism, civil defense, race, gender roles, popular culture, and film all make appearances throughout the course.

Like AMS 510, the assignments are straightforward and Professor Callaway grades quickly. If you enjoy modern American history, you'll probably like this course quite a bit. I found it interesting because it went beyond the usual discussions of the Soviet Union and nuclear weapons and spent time looking at how Cold War fears shaped American society and culture

AMS 530: The American South (Patrick Callaway)

This course covers the development of the American South from the colonial era through the Civil War. While the subject matter wasn't as interesting to me personally as some of the other courses in the program, it does provide a lot of important background for understanding later American history.

AMS 540: Violent America (Patrick Callaway)

This was probably my second favorite of Professor Callaway's courses behind Makers of America. The course examines violence in American history from Jamestown through the late 19th century and covers a wide variety of topics rather than focusing on a single event or period.

What I enjoyed most was that the course touches on a lot of different aspects of early American history and gives you the opportunity to explore topics that don't always get much attention in traditional survey courses.

AMS 550: American Cemeteries: Material Culture, Death, Memory, and Identity (Professor Kimberly Sebold)

This was one of the more unique courses in the program. Before taking it, I honestly didn't think there was enough material there for an entire graduate course, but I was wrong.

The class looks at cemeteries, gravestones, memorials, and burial practices as historical sources. You'll spend a lot of time analyzing material culture and what it can tell us about the people and communities who created it. If you've never looked at a cemetery as a historical document before, this course will definitely change the way you think about them.

Like Professor Sebold's other courses, expect a significant amount of research and writing. The assignments require attention to detail, but by this point in the program you'll probably be pretty comfortable with her expectations.

AMS 560: Echoes of Valor: Union Civil War Soldiers' Experiences in Pension Records (Professor Kimberly Sebold)

As someone who enjoys Civil War history, this was one of the courses I was most interested in taking. It was also, by far, the most labor intensive course in the entire program for me.

You'll spend a huge amount of time working through pension records, census records, vital records, newspapers, and just about anything else you can get your hands on. You're not only researching the veteran, you're often building out family trees and tracking spouses, children, and relatives well into the early twentieth century.

If you don't have strong research skills when you start this class, you will by the time you're done. If you don't develop them, you're probably going to struggle. This course demands attention to detail and a willingness to spend hours digging through records trying to answer questions that don't always have obvious answers.

It's a lot of work, but it's also probably the course that improved my research abilities more than any other class in the program. If you can make it through AMS 560, you'll come out the other side a much stronger researcher than when you started.

AMS 570: Social Media and American Culture (Professor William Jenkins)

This was one of the lighter courses in the program and a nice break after AMS 560. The course looks at the impact social media has on American culture, politics, communication, and society.

A lot of the topics will feel familiar because they're things most of us interact with every day. Discussions around influencers, misinformation, online communities, algorithms, and digital culture make up a large part of the course.

Professor Jenkins was fair, easy to work with, and his expectations were clear. Compared to some of the research-heavy courses earlier in the program, this one felt much more discussion and analysis focused.

Overall, I found it interesting and very relevant to modern life. It was a nice change of pace from spending hours buried in historical records.

AMS 580: Sex and Gender in America (Professor William Jenkins)

Going into this course, I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy it, but it ended up being more interesting than I expected. The class looks at how sex and gender have shaped American society and touches on topics ranging from feminism and LGBTQ+ movements to broader discussions about identity, power, and social change.

Professor Jenkins does a good job of presenting the material in a way that encourages discussion without feeling like he's trying to push a particular viewpoint. Whether you agree with every perspective presented or not, the course gives you plenty to think about.

Compared to the courses taught by Professors Sebold and Callaway, this one is less focused on deep archival research and more focused on reading, analysis, and discussion. The workload is manageable and the expectations are straightforward.

Even if the subject matter isn't something you would normally seek out on your own, I'd recommend keeping an open mind. I ended up getting more out of the course than I expected.

Thanks everyone for reading If you have any questions please feel free to reach out I'm happy to be an owl alumni and help other owls achieve their dreams!

Spooky

I've struggled with agoraphobia since 2013 and PTSD for many years. At my worst in 2014, I couldn't even get my mail. Through exposure therapy and a lot of hard work, I got significantly better without medication, but I was never 100% cured.

Because of my anxiety, I've continued to work remotely for years. I learned how to build a life around my limitations and for a long time it worked. By 2022, I had opened my own business, was able travel around my local area, taught online classes, earned a master's degree, got married, and built a life I was proud of.

The problem is that I think I stopped maintaining my recovery.

For the last couple of years I was working a part-time job, working a full-time job, running my business, and completing a master's degree all at the same time. I basically did nothing but work and school. Looking back, I could feel my anxiety gradually getting worse. The generalized anxiety was increasing. Panic attacks were becoming more common. I just kept pushing through it.

Last week I had to put down my service dog of nearly 14 years. She got me through some of the darkest years of my agoraphobia and PTSD.

A few days later, while I was alone, I had to tell my daughter that my dog had died. During that call I had one of the worst panic attacks I've had in years.

Since then things have gotten out of control.

The generalized anxiety is through the roof. The dissociation is back. The fear of panic attacks is constant. I'm now panicking when I'm alone, something I haven't had to deal with in years.

I had just started a new remote full-time job and my anxiety became so severe that I resigned after one day. I have pretty much stopped taking customers and only maintain my part time Adjunct instructor job. 

For the first time in my life I'm seriously considering medication, but I'm terrified of it. I have a history of addiction and a lot of health anxiety. My biggest fears are having a severe reaction, heart palpitations, losing control, and an increase of anxiety. I was prescribed Lexapro, but I have not had the balls to take it yet. 

Has anyone else had a major relapse after years of managing?

If you were terrified of medication, what finally convinced you to try it?

I'm 13 years into this fight and honestly feeling pretty lost right now, I can't do another 10 years to get back to where I was

Recently there was a post asking about the location of where a photo was taken. They deleted the post so I figured I would let everybody know if you're seeing the viral Instagram video called secret Blue grotto the location is actually the Gandy Warm springs.

The beauty of our state is for everybody and should not be gate kept. If You disagree feel free to see yourself out from the group.