Posts By: Jason Sullivan

Jason Sullivan

An unofficial AU advocate at large, Jason never misses a chance to recount the merits of an Athabasca education. Jason’s studies began alone in front of a rustic rural fireplace in December of 2003 and carried on through various brick and mortar college classrooms yet always with Athabasca as part of his journey. In 2014 he completed his BA in Sociology and in 2022 graduated with an MA in Cultural Studies. To this end, his columns seek to explore edifying moments of learning how to learn within the challenging ideological terrain of that great bugaboo facing students everywhere: the real world!

It’s 2024: Do Kids Have More Distrust of Tech Than You?

The prospect of AI proof-reading our sloppy rough drafts contains an air of excitement.  Sure, a few nuggets of genius emerge as we write and re-work our various essays but, along the way, countless hours fall off the cliff of time as we dot our proverbial I’s and mind our proverbial Q’s, bearing in mind… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—The Thespian’s Wail: What’s My Motivation?

Motivation and attentiveness are twinned foils for countless creative and educational pursuits.  Both sensations induce sighs of underwhelmed lassitude at the prospect of climbing another of life’s hillocks, and flitting glances adrift from the scene of the present to the yawing gulf of the imagination.  The history and practice of education may largely be seen… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Thar Blows The White Whale: The White Male?

Whether it’s blameless tragedies, like ice cream faceplanted onto pavement, or injurious words offending a visible minority, unfairness is rife in this world of ours.  It takes a noble spirit to face the forces of darkness and disappointment, a stance augmented by post-secondary education where we learn the reasons and details for assorted social maladies. … Read more »

The Hardline Online Hateline—Dreams of a Better Kind

Awaking from an unpleasant dream in which I was compelled to carry a plastic fast-food tray laden with food through a gauntlet of wheezing, jostling, and sneezing people it occurred to me what a mild sort of heroism to which my unconscious must aspire.  Overcoming violent terrorists or bringing food to hungry refugees?  Nope.  All… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Silence Beats Busywork!

A boisterous elementary school lunch hour (it was hot dog day!) gave way not to scholarly study but to an exuberant noisy classroom of kids with bums steadfastly resistant to remaining seated in their plastic chairs.  Not flustered, our teacher with his metre stick gave a loud rap on the chalkboard.  “Kids” he announced, “we’re… Read more »

Flowers for Algorithm: Selves Lost and Found in the Digital Maze

The notion of two people bonded together, joined at the hip, nowadays extends more and more to two additional realms: dogs and phones.  While to argue the value of an interlocutor’s prize pooch proves as fruitless as questioning the belovedness of another’s child, the reality of the digital realm’s tactile interface with the essence of… Read more »