23.750, Media: MIT Libraries Receive Papers of Noam Chomsky

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LINGUIST List: Vol-23-750. Tue Feb 14 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.750, Media: MIT Libraries Receive Papers of Noam Chomsky

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1)
Date: 14-Feb-2012
From: Theresa A. Tobin [tat at mit.edu]
Subject: MIT Libraries Receive Papers of Noam Chomsky


-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:57:42
From: Theresa A. Tobin [tat at mit.edu]
Subject: MIT Libraries Receive Papers of Noam Chomsky

E-mail this message to a friend:
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 9, 2012 - MIT's Libraries were recently
chosen to be the stewards of the personal archives of noted linguist, political 
activist, and Institute Professor emeritus Noam Chomsky. The significant 
collection spans a long and distinguished career, beginning when Chomsky 
joined MIT in 1955 in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, through his 
years as a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, 
then as Institute Professor. 

Often referred to as "the father of modern linguistics," Chomsky 
revolutionized the field of linguistics and paved the way for transformational 
grammar and universal grammar. His book Syntactic Structures (1957) was 
considered groundbreaking. He also made significant
contributions to the fields of psychology, cognitive science, philosophy of 
language and philosophy of mind. 

"It's fitting that Professor Chomsky's papers will remain at MIT as a resource 
for future generations of scholars. He revolutionized the way we think about 
the linguistic sciences and the cognitive mechanisms of language 
acquisition, and his ideas in many realms have had profound influence on 
scholarship and public discourse here at MIT and worldwide," MIT President 
Susan Hockfield said.

Over the years, Chomsky has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 
Kyoto Prize in 1988 and the MIT Killian Award for the academic year 1991-
1992. Most recently, he won the Sydney Peace Prize in 2011. He is a 
member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences.

"Over the last fifty years, Noam Chomsky has not only created the
building blocks of linguistic theory and understanding, but has built a 
remarkable and unique department of Linguistics that has nurtured several 
generations of linguists who have taken theirMIT experience into and across 
the globe.

It is wonderful that Noam's papers, which span this long period of growth
and development, will be available to scholars for many years to come," MIT 
Dean of Humanities Deborah Fitzgerald said.

The collection also reflects Chomsky's political activism and outspoken 
support for freedom of speech and social justice. He was once quoted as 
saying, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, 
we don't believe in it at all" (Guardian (UK), Nov.23, 1992). He has authored 
numerous works on the topic, including American Power and the New 
Mandarins (1969), Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy
of the Mass Media (1988), Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the  ssault
on Democracy (2006), and Hopes and Prospects (2010).

The addition of Chomsky's personal archives, and a large portion of his 
personal library, augments a small existing collection of Chomsky's papers
already in the care of the MIT Libraries' Institute Archives.

"With this addition, the collection will be a complete archival resource that will 
provide researchers with unique insight into Professor Chomsky's thinking, 
and the development of the field of linguistics, as well as his views on 
significant issues in social activism from post-WWII through current day," MIT 
Institute Archivist Tom Rosko said.

Staff from the MIT Libraries and Institute Archives and Special Collections 
are in the beginning stages of transferring material to the Archives. Initial 
work in organizing the Chomsky collection will occur this year, with additional 
work on improving access to the collection, including online access to 
portions of it, continuing over the next several years. When the work is done, 
scholars will have unprecedented access to an enormous depth and breadth 
of material from one of the world's most renowned linguists and top 
intellectual minds. 


Linguistic Field(s): Discipline of Linguistics





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