This is Ashley Arnold, a 27-year-old resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She's a stay-at-home mom completing an online sociology degree with Southern New Hampshire University.

As part of her final class, for which she paid almost $1,000, students were required to complete a project outline last month in which they would compare a social norm in the US and another country.

For her "norm" Arnold picked social media use, and for her country she chose Australia.

But when Arnold got her grade back on Feb. 1, she was shocked to see her professor had failed her. Why? Because, according to the teacher, "Australia is a continent; not a country."

“At first I thought it was a joke; This can’t be real . Then as I continued to read I realized she was for real," she told BuzzFeed News.

The professor, who has a PhD in philosophy, according to her LinkedIn, had given Arnold zero points in multiple sections of the assignment because she believed that Australia wasn't a real country.

(Arnold asked BuzzFeed News not to name the professor because she didn't want any backlash, but it's understood she was a contracted employee and not on the permanent faculty).

“With her education levels, her expertise, who wouldn’t know Australia is a country?" asked Arnold. "If she’s hesitating or questioning that, why wouldn’t she just google that herself?”

So, Arnold wrote a lengthy email to the professor, trying to convince her Australia, the country, does indeed exist. She even provided references:

But the professor still wasn't convinced. In her lecturing reply, which Arnold provided to BuzzFeed News, the professor doubled down on her Australia-denialism:

So, Arnold responded again, even including a link to the "About Australia" section of the Australian government's website:

Let's stop for a second and just state for the record that Australia is a country. Here's the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Here are some members of the Australian women's soccer team, the Matildas.

And here's Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, speaking at the United Nations, a pretty exclusive international club that you have to be a 100% real country to join.

She said she approached BuzzFeed News with her story because she was worried other students might have been incorrectly graded by the professor.

Anyway, Arnold said she was determined to have the professor realize her mistake, so she filed a report with the university. "I’m not going to fail because I chose a country that is a country," she said.

Finally, after the professor had finished conducting her "independent research," Arnold received a new grade this week: a B+.

The professor never apologized for the error, but did acknowledge she had a "misunderstanding about the difference between Australia as a country and a continent."

Still, the professor had another warning for Arnold as she prepares to write her final assignment: "Please make sure the date, the facts, and the information you provide in your report is about Australia the country and not Australia the continent."

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