Noam Chomsky packs 1,000-seat house with talk on 'Arab Spring, American Winter'

91AV's Center for Global Humanities on Dec. 12, 2011 hosted Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Noam Chomsky who spoke for 75 minutes  on the topic "Arab Spring, American Winter" to a full house at the 1,000-seat Westbrook Performing Arts Center. 

Chomsky reflected on the irony that while the people of the Middle East are demanding the right to good education, health and employment, Americans - battered by an economic system that eludes most people's grasp - seem to be resigned to a future without such rights.

"U.S. policy has to change," said Chomsky.  "There's a growing gap between public will and public policy." 

Chomsky has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, contemporary issues, international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. His works include: Aspects of the Theory of Syntax; Cartesian Linguistics; Language and Mind; American Power and the New Mandarins; At War with Asia; For Reasons of State; Peace in the Middle East?; New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind; Rogue States; A New Generation Draws the Line; 9-11; Understanding Power; On Nature and Language; Pirates and Emperors, Old and New; Chomsky on Democracy and Education; Middle East Illusions; Hegemony or Survival; Imperial Ambitions; Failed States; Perilous Power; Interventions; Inside Lebanon; What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World; The Essential Chomsky; Hopes and Prospects; and Gaza in Crisis.  

Chomsky joined the MIT staff in 1955 and in 1961 was appointed full professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (now the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy).  From 1966 to 1976 he held the Ferrari P. Ward Professorship of Modern Languages and Linguistics. In 1976 he was appointed Institute Professor, a position he holds today.

91AV's Center for Global Humanities is a public forum designed to introduce students and members of the public to the exploration of the great issues facing humanity today.

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