UMPI MA in American Studies

[irvineboy]

Really interesting content.  As a history buff this is great stuff. if it was available at the time I might have just did this instead of the MAOL

If you are a history buff, you should go after a history MA...lmao

That's why I said if this was avialable it would have been a consideration, there is no MA History at UMPI YP

[Duneranger]

Really interesting content.  As a history buff this is great stuff. if it was available at the time I might have just did this instead of the MAOL

If you are a history buff, you should go after a history MA...lmao

That's why I said if this was avialable it would have been a consideration, there is no MA History at UMPI YP

There are plenty of proper online history MA programs, not everything has to be CBE. History MAs are all about discussion with others and research anyway, not memorizing facts. That's undergrad level.

[slaterjack]

Sorry to ghost this thread but on the same day as class begun, Jan12th, my family suffered a devastating loss that I have not fully been able to move past as of yet. With only 2 weeks left in the term I have only completed 2 assignments and have been weighing options as to drop out for now. I'm not quite sure if I will face penalties or problems in the future requesting student aid, but at this time I don't feel like I can continue.

As far as the course work, I didn't get to much, but was irritated by a couple minor things. For 1, they require all work to be done in google docs now, all of it, which I don't like and have been using OpenOffice for like a decade so switching was a real annoying realization. Secondly, the first papers are not about history, they're ALL about AI. Ethical/unethical uses, writing papers using it, not using it, explaining which parts you used AI on and which not, AI AI AI. I personally don't even use AI at all, I just write out of my head so being forced to address a non issue and being made to use Gemini over and over is super frustrating. It made it twice as stressful. The paranoia of students using AI has ironically made me learn how to use AI when it was unnecessary in the first place, I truly wasn't enjoying the experience at all. I think I need to regroup. For myself I wanted to use this degree as a stepping stone and perhaps didn't calculate the amount of writing it would be. Every milestone is a headache rather than a learning experience, at least for me for now. I don't think I'm in a mindset for any of it so others may feel the opposite. To be continued/

[Jonathan Whatley]

slaterjack, I’m sorry for your loss, and good luck.

[SteveFoerster]

I'm sorry to hear that! May you and your family be delivered from your distress.

[wow]

Hi slaterjack! I'm sorry you're going through a tough time. Thanks for taking a moment to stop in and let us know about your experience with the program. Being forced to use Google Docs sounds awful, and also like it could potentially present accessibility issues for some. Google Docs is also terrible for formatting, I've found -- I use a custom template for all my APA assignments that I've tried in the past importing to Google Docs, but Google Docs doesn't allow the same level of detail when it comes to headings, fields, etc., so I end up having to do a bunch of manual formatting anyway. The AI thing would also drive me crazy and would feel a little insulting at the master's level, although I guess I understand why they require it. Although at the master's level, it feels like focusing on research skills would be a better use of time.

[ss20ts]

Sorry to ghost this thread but on the same day as class begun, Jan12th, my family suffered a devastating loss that I have not fully been able to move past as of yet.  With only 2 weeks left in the term I have only completed 2 assignments and have been weighing options as to drop out for now.  I'm not quite sure if I will face penalties or problems in the future requesting student aid, but at this time I don't feel like I can continue.

As far as the course work, I didn't get to much, but was irritated by a couple minor things.  For 1, they require all work to be done in google docs now, all of it, which I don't like and have been using OpenOffice for like a decade so switching was a real annoying realization.  Secondly, the first papers are not about history, they're ALL about AI.  Ethical/unethical uses, writing papers using it, not using it, explaining which parts you used AI on and which not, AI AI AI.   I personally don't even use AI at all, I just write out of my head so being forced to address a non issue and being made to use Gemini over and over is super frustrating.  It made it twice as stressful. The paranoia of students using AI has ironically made me learn how to use AI when it was unnecessary in the first place, I truly wasn't enjoying the experience at all.  I think I need to regroup.  For myself I wanted to use this degree as a stepping stone and perhaps didn't calculate  the amount of writing it would be.  Every milestone is a headache rather than a learning experience, at least for me for now. I don't think I'm in a mindset for any of it so others may feel the opposite.  To be continued/

Talk to your academic success coach and the financial aid office! I'm sorry for your loss.

[newdegree]

Sorry for your loss, and I hope everything gets better. Thank you for the update on the program. I find that artificial intelligence (AI) is a problem, and universities are cracking down on students using it with new technologies to detect AI usage, but it's unavoidable at this point. Using something as simple as Grammarly can get you jammed up when you are trying to clean up your work a bit, whereas the worst AI software, like ChatGPT, can write your papers for you. Those first papers would have driven me up the wall personally because I am paying for a master's degree in American Studies to learn the material, not to write papers on the usage of AI. It could have been simply put on the syllabus, and an email about the use of AI and Universities' policy against it would have been enough. I think they are exaggerating by having you write papers on how you use AI and whether it is ethical or unethical. They should save this for undergraduate students, not master's-level students. I think you have, at this point, proven you can write papers if you have a bachelor's degree. Now I do understand that a master's degree may require longer papers with more in-depth analysis and research, but you should know the policy and rules at this point, and the consequences if you cheat or plagiarize. But enough about my rant here; hopefully, you make the right decision about what to do with the program, whether to drop it or extend it to another semester. Stay strong, and my condolences again.

[Lady_Gumshoe]

Sorry to ghost this thread but on the same day as class begun, Jan12th, my family suffered a devastating loss that I have not fully been able to move past as of yet.  With only 2 weeks left in the term I have only completed 2 assignments and have been weighing options as to drop out for now.  I'm not quite sure if I will face penalties or problems in the future requesting student aid, but at this time I don't feel like I can continue.

As far as the course work, I didn't get to much, but was irritated by a couple minor things.  For 1, they require all work to be done in google docs now, all of it, which I don't like and have been using OpenOffice for like a decade so switching was a real annoying realization.  Secondly, the first papers are not about history, they're ALL about AI.  Ethical/unethical uses, writing papers using it, not using it, explaining which parts you used AI on and which not, AI AI AI.   I personally don't even use AI at all, I just write out of my head so being forced to address a non issue and being made to use Gemini over and over is super frustrating.  It made it twice as stressful. The paranoia of students using AI has ironically made me learn how to use AI when it was unnecessary in the first place, I truly wasn't enjoying the experience at all.  I think I need to regroup.  For myself I wanted to use this degree as a stepping stone and perhaps didn't calculate  the amount of writing it would be.  Every milestone is a headache rather than a learning experience, at least for me for now. I don't think I'm in a mindset for any of it so others may feel the opposite.  To be continued/

Prayers for healing and peace in your situation. Thanks for your insight about the courses you posted.

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

I graduated from the BA History/Poli Sci program and this looks like it's designed to build nicely on that.  I wonder if any of the lower level courses will roll up to it the way a few of the business courses do for the MAOL.

Hopefully not, as someone with a MA in history, the rigor is 100% different than the undergrad courses at UMPI.

No thesis/dissertation is bizarre for a history-esque degree....

I have seen a bit of a split in recent years with humanities degrees specifically and MA degrees generally.
There are those 36 hour masters programs with a thesis and which are designed for those seeking a career in the field...this is what you are used to.

But I've also seen multiple 30 hour history/English/ Lit/education et al... heck, even 30 hour MS degrees in Biology, Math, Chem, and other fields also with no thesis. They seem designed and advertised for school teachers that merely need a "masters" in the discipline for promotion/pay raises/ the ability to teach AP courses or moonlight as a Jr College adjunct.

Different credit hour requirements, lack of a thesis, and shorter in duration... but ultimately designed to cater to a different audience.