Noam Chomsky Facts
Noam Chomsky Facts
|
| Interesting Noam Chomsky Facts: |
|---|
| Avram Noam Chomsky is the oldest child born to a middle-class Jewish family in Philadelphia. |
| His parents were professors at Mikveh Israel religious school where his father was also the principal. |
| As a child Chomsky experienced anti-semitism from the German and Irish communities in his neighborhood. |
| That and the influence of his socialist relatives created a strong attachment to leftist causes. |
| He attended Oak Lane Country Day School where at the age of ten he wrote a paper on the spread of fascism after the Spanish Civil War. |
| In 1945 Noam Chomsky entered the University of Pennsylvania and he obtained his BA with his honor's thesis, "Morphophonemics of Modern Hebrew." |
| He earned his MA in 1951 and his master's thesis would be published as a book. |
| From 1951 to 1955 he did doctoral research at Harvard and in 1955 received his PhD from Penn with a thesis on transformational grammar. |
| It would be published in 1975 as The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory in which he theorizes that the principles of language structure are biologically determined and genetically transmitted. |
| His theory that linguistic structures reflect a "universal grammar" and not universally accepted. |
| In 1955 he began work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he taught linguistics and philosophy. |
| From 1958 to 1959 he was National Science Foundation fellow at Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Study. |
| His ideas attracted national attention and he was appointed plenary speaker at the Ninth International Congress of Linguists and he edited the Studies in Language Series for Harper and Row. |
| He wrote numerous books on linguistics and linguistic theory including Aspects of the Theory of Syntax and Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar in 1966. |
| In 1967 he entered the world of public political debate with his essay, The Responsibility of Intellectuals, which was critical of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. |
| He supported the anti-draft movement and was included on President Richard Nixon's enemies list. |
| His writings and lectures generated much controversy and he was arrested multiple times. |
| His work in linguistics continued to earn him international recognition and in 1974 he became a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. |
| He continued to work in both the political and linguistic fields and in 1979 published The Political Economy of Human Rights. |
| He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Science and is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association and the Helmholtz Medal. |
|
Related Links: Facts Scientists Facts Animals Facts |