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Early Childhood (1928-1945)
Growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Jewish immigrant parents. Noam Chomsky attended jewish religious school that his father was the principal for where he learned Hebrew and Zionism. He faced frequent anti semitism amongst the Irish and German neighborhoods which ended up shaping his political ideologies for the future. -
Formal Education (1945-1955)
At the age of 16, Noam Chomsky enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. He dabbled in multiple subjects such as philosophy, logic and languages. Here is were he developed a fascination with learning Arabic. Tuition was difficult for him to pay so he starting teaching Hebrew. He graduated with his masters in 1951. He then got accepted at Harvard to research and submitted his dissertation to Pennsylvania where he was awarded his Ph.D. -
Early Career (1951-1966)
In 1952 he publishes his first academic article, Systems of Syntactic Analysis. In 1955 shortly after receiving is Ph.D. he got hired at MIT teaching linguistics and philosophy. He enjoyed the fact that he could build his curriculum the way he wanted so he experimented with different styles of teaching. In 1958 he got hired by Columbia University as a visiting professor. His tenure there only lasts a year, during this time his first child was born and responsibilities weighed down on him. -
Systems of Syntactic (1957)
In 1957 Systems of Syntactic was published. It was fundamental in changing the way we study language. His mentor Zellig Harris who he studied with as an Undergrad taught him a model which then Chomsky elaborated on. -
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965)
Building off the ideas from his last book, Chomsky dives in and fleshes out some of his ideas in this book. This book contributed to the philosophy of science by bringing in a new paradigm into the normative science process that was happening at the time in the field. Some of the ideas moved linguistics away from the mainstream and into new branches of science. -
Roots of Civil Obedience (1965-1975)
His political ideas came around full swing as the Vietnam war raged on. He spoke out against the war, and often held meetings to share his thoughts. He went even further than speech and protested with his actions, he paid only half his taxes and supported any student that refused the draft. He cofounded groups that went against the war agenda. He was arrested multiple times, at one point during a rally at the pentagon. President Nixon put him on his "master list of political opponents". -
The Fateful Triangle (1983)
As Chomsky rose to the international stage, he often injecting himself into some of the biggest sources of tension on Earth. In 1983 he publishes The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians. This book examines the dynamic between the US, Israel and the Palestinians and how there is a pro-zionist bias in the US government and elite media. -
Retirement (2002)
In 2002, Chomsky retired form MIT. He still continued to do research and represent the marginalized people of the world. From Brazil, Turkey, to the West Bank. He was very critical of Bush's administration after 9/11. Since then he has remained vocal in the political sphere. He currently is 91 years old. Below is a lecture by him during that time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6nvHFlR-sQ -
References
Chomsky, Noam, and David Barsamian. Propaganda and the Public Mind : Conversations with Noam Chomsky Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2015. Barsky, Robert F. (1997). Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-02418-1. McGilvray, James A. “Noam Chomsky.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Dec. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Noam-Chomsky. Sperlich, Wolfgang B. (2006). Noam Chomsky. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-269-0.
