KNOXVILLE — American linguist, philosopher, scientist and political activist Noam Chomsky will speak about his career at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at in the Alumni Memorial Building Cox Auditorium at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The event is free and open to the public.
Chomsky is widely considered the father of modern linguistics, but also is known as a political dissident and anarchist. He has authored more than 150 books including “The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory,” “Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance” and “Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World.”
Chomsky attended the University of Pennsylvania and received his master’s degree in 1951. While working on his doctorate, Chomsky spent time in 1953 living in the HaZore’a kibbutz in Israel. In a 2005 interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Chomsky said he enjoyed the commune-like living of the kibbutz, but did not care for what he called the ideological atmosphere of Stalinized Israel. After returning to the U.S., he received his doctorate in linguistics in 1955.
He joined the staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that same year and in 1961 became a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Chomsky continues to teach at MIT today.
Chomsky was a leading critic of the Vietnam War. His criticisms of U.S. power and foreign policy over the years have made him a controversial figure.
Chomsky’s visit to UT Knoxville is sponsored by the campus’s Central Programming Council and the Issues Committee. For more information visit http://activities.utk.edu/cpc/.
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CONTACT:
Rebekah Winkler (865-974-8307, rwinkler@utk.edu)