Ariel Ducey

Episode 6 kicks off season 2 of the Department of Sociology’s podcast with a “teach-in” webinar on the #Alberta #referendum. Listen here: the-sociological-imagination-ucalgary.simplecast.com/episodes/epi... #podcast #sociology

Did you know? Alberta receives federal funding to support health care, education, and social services for each person living in our province. These federal transfers are calculated on a per capita basis, and *include* both permanent and non-permanent residents.

The Smith government's claim that immigrants are a drain on public coffers? Bullshit. Debunked. Vote No to the Nine to stop the scapegoating. Hold the government to account. thetyee.ca/News/2026/09...

Bruce McAllister is a senior advisor to Alberta's premier. He hosted the anti-immigrant Alberta Next Panels. He attacked Senator Paula Simons for calling out the racist referendum questions. Now he's openly supporting an extremist white nationalist party's racist anti-immigration policy.

I find that, no matter how many ways I acknowledge LLMs etc are changing, people dismiss me as “crazy” or “unserious” because I refuse to attribute those changes to “intelligence.” I will say again, automated language production and intelligence are completely different things.

School’s back in session. Maybe the Premier should spend some time in her crowded classrooms. First assignment: show your work. If “guest workers” cost $10 in services for every $1 in taxes, show us who you mean and where that number came from. albertasvoice.ca #ableg #abpoli #NoToTheNine #abvoice

Live report from the Minnesota State Fair, located in the heart of American democracy, where there’s an ICE Out adaptation of Picasso’s Guernica made entirely from crops

John Roberts' Constitution forbids any attempt to proactively ameliorate racial discrimination and racial inequality, but permits open racial discrimination as long as there is a facially neutral explanation available, even if it isn't remotely plausible. This, my friends, is "Colorblindness."

ZERO evidence to support this move. ZERO. More privatization likely result in: > inequities > in healthcare spending > inefficiency & admin costs > unnecessary care / procedures < resources / providers in public system Sum: unhinged idea fuelled by blind ideology www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Researchers are finding that using AI tools tends to bias people's viewpoints without them realizing it, and even if people are warned that AI writing tools can bias their thinking, the bias still happens. This is a dangerous and insidious thing. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

NEW site in CALGARY! upper-level undergrad & grad students Build relationships w/ others interested in sustainable futures & learn approaches at nexus of phys &mental health-ecology-equity & society SUST 503 will be offered as a directed study @ucalgary.bsky.social copeh-canada.org/en/key-areas...

Four-byline alert: 🚨 “.. A broker for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter.” www.ft.com/content/744e...

The widely cited study on closing Red Deer’s overdose prevention site is inconclusive & overstated. It ignores key factors, conflicts of interest, and transparency. Relying on it risks lives, especially when broader evidence shows these sites save them. edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

“If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

In 2025, more than 10,000 STEM PhDs quit or were fired from federal jobs. That's 14% of the federal STEM PhD workforce, and 17% of STEM PhDs at 14 critical agencies. A huge loss of expertise and institutional memory, representing more than 106,000 person-years of experience.

University of Calgary Sociology Professor Alex Bierman discussing holiday financial stress on @ctvnewscalgary.bsky.social #stress #sociology www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/vide...

the united states is currently being led by a bunch of little david dukes with a senescent outer-borough grand dragon at the top

My mom's really been pestering us for Christmas ideas for our kids, who can be tough to get stuff for. But I hadn't thought of steel.

Weird situation. AI adoption in the work world is stagnating, while higher-ed institutions are rushing to embrace it so that students will be prepared for…the work world?

The AI bubble may be about to bust. Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock. We all need to say this very clearly: NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH! Expropriate their asses instead. They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet. They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3

this morning, ICE went into a Spanish language immersion daycare and took a teacher from the building in front of screaming and crying kids and parents at dropoff and the daycare had to shut down for the day (near Lane Tech, where they were yesterday). Really hoping today's "theme" is not "daycare."

doi.org/10.1093/gero... Fahimeh Mehrabi examines social robots helping to alleviate loneliness in later life! #sociology #gerontology #openaccess @itds-csa.bsky.social

i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake 1/

honestly the only piece worth reading on the platner situation. @tressiemcphd.bsky.social is absolutely cooking here. (gift link)

You still want to believe the political fuel that powers the American collapse into authoritarianism isn't the deep, abiding resentment of white men who pine for an America that sees and services only them? Gaze upon Leni Riefenstahl's recent work for Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Labor.

BREAKING: economist discovers “second shift,” a concept coined by sociologists almost 50 years ago; gives it new, stupider, and less explicitly labor-oriented name

Opinion piece from David King, former Alberta Minister of Education in a Progressive Conservative government, published in the Edmonton Journal (of all places), addressing the conduct of the UCP towards our public education system. It is absolutely worth reading. edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

@umich.edu faculty call for an honorary degree for Trump “We have proven that we have no hard moral principles and no hill on which we will die.” www.michigandaily.com/opinion/op-e...

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Thank you for sharing your research with us @raulpachecovega.bsky.social !

That same Friday, October 3rd, I will be presenting on ethnographic studies of climate mobility. Thanks to @ucalgary.bsky.social Department of Sociology, Dr. Laura Montes de Oca, and Dr. @aducey.bsky.social for the invitation to share some of my newest work. events.ucalgary.ca/arts/sociolo...

Folks in Calgary: I will be presenting new work on climate mobility October 3rd. Feel free to circulate among your networks. events.ucalgary.ca/arts/sociolo...

Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...

Episode 2 of The Sociological Imagination @UCalgary features Professor Cora Voyageur - listen here: the-sociological-imagination-ucalgary.simplecast.com/episodes/epi... #sociology #coravoyageur #ucalgary @aducey.bsky.social

A veteran US Navy SEAL reflects on Gaza dbarkhuff.substack.com/p/i-should-b...

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...

The mass starvation & killing of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli gov’t is a chillul hashem, a desecration of God. Jewish leaders who criticized Zohran Mamdani for three words he doesn’t use should raise their voices loudly here as well. forward.com/opinion/7575...

Private surgical facilities in Alberta are starving the public system of staff and funding to perform priority procedures, according to a new report that concludes the province has yet to increase surgical capacity or reduce wait times as pledged. #ableg www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...

International students are being hunted on their campuses. For raising their voices for justice. This is pure evil.

This piece so perfectly captures what I feel as a department head, about my colleagues & the work in public higher ed to provide the highest quality education to thousands upon thousands of students at an “astonishingly fucking low cost”, in these times. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...