Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned linguist, intellectual, and political activist, will be speaking at the University of Arizona on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in Centennial Hall. “An Evening with Noam Chomsky” will feature a talk on the state of higher education titled “Education for Whom and for What?” followed by a question and answer session.
Those in the Phoenix area can view this talk live on two large screens at Chandler City Hall in the Council Chambers. The event is free and open to the public. For more details, go to http://web.sbs.arizona.edu/college/chomsky
“The city of Chandler is excited to be hosting this live simulcast in partnership with the University of Arizona,” stated Christine Mackay, Chandler’s Economic Development Director. “The emphasis on education remains critical as we continue to develop Chandler’s creative workforce.”
“Noam Chomsky is not only a giant in the fields of linguistics and cognitive science, but is also a provocative and influential public figure," said John Paul Jones III, dean of the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, or SBS.
His lecture, which is co-sponsored by UA's Confluence: Center for Creative Inquiry, is the first in the SBS Annual Lecture Series.
Chomsky, an Institute Professor and a Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he worked for more than 50 years, has been concerned with a range of education-related issues in recent years.
Among them: How do we characterize the contemporary state of the American education system? What happens to the quality of education when public universities become more privatized? Are public universities in danger of being converted into facilities that produce graduates-as-commodities for the job market? What is the role of activism in education?
With unprecedented tuition increases and budget struggles occurring across American campuses, these are questions that are more relevant than ever.
Chomsky, who according to The New York Times is “arguably the most important intellectual alive,” is credited with revolutionizing the field of linguistics by introducing the Chomsky hierarchy, generative grammar, and the concept of a universal grammar.
Chomsky has received numerous awards, including the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, the Helmholtz Medal, the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award and the Ben Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science. Over the years, he has been a profoundly influential voice, lecturing widely and publishing numerous books on U.S. foreign policy, Mideast politics and other related subjects.
The Chomsky visit is sponsored by the University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Science, Confluence: Center for Creative Inquiry and the Department of Linguistics. Additional support comes from the University of Arizona College of Education, Elise Collins Shields and Creston Shields, the Arizona Daily Star, and also from the University of Arizona School of Anthropology, the Department of Computer Science, the Cognitive Science Program, the Department of Communication, the School of Geography and Development, the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the School of Government and Public Policy, the Department of History, the College of Humanities, the School of Journalism, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, the Department of Psychology, the Department of Sociology, and UA BookStores.