Noamchomsky

Noam Chomsky (1928-)

By Shawn Lugo

  • Young Age

    Young Age
    Noam Chomsky traveled often from Philadelphia to New York City to visit his uncle who ran a newsstand. He admired his uncle because he knew much about the world surrounding him although he did not receive a formal education. Chomsky's political views were influence from instances like these.

  • Education

    Education
    Chomsky began his studies at the University of Pennsylvania by the end of WWII. This was where Chomsky developed a strong connection to linguistics when he met Zellig S. Harris. Harris then saw much potential in Chomsky and promptly introduced him to a Harvard mathematician and philosophers. “Noam Chomsky.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Noam-Chomsky.

  • MIT

    MIT
    The professorial staff invited Chomsky to be part of their ranks. Chomsky was tasked to work in the school's Linguistics and Philosophy department, and he stayed in this position for the next fifty years. Chomsky was also a visiting professor at universities like Columbia and Cambridge. During his time as a professor, Chomsky believed that languages are inherent when born and develop over time with the help of the immediate environment surroundings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cgpfw4z8cw

  • Controversy

    Controversy
    Chomsky's essay, "The Responsibility of the Intellectuals," was published by The New York Review of Books. In his essay Chomsky expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War and stated that the intellectual community involved are acting disgracefully and he hoped that his statements would cause his peers to think deeper. “Noam Chomsky.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 Apr. 2020, www.biography.com/scholar/noam-chomsky.