Racing for the Precipice: Is the Human Experiment Doomed? | Public Lecture with Noam Chomsky

Professor Chomsky, who was awarded the Albert Wolters Distinguished Visiting Professorship by the University of Reading, is internationally recognised as one of the most critically engaged public intellectuals alive today. In a career of more than 60 years in academia, Chomsky has influenced the fields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and politics.

Noted critic of President-elect Trump, Professor Chomsky gave a public lecture on Wednesday 10th May, titled ‘Racing for the Precipice: Is the Human Experiment Doomed?’, following the first 100 days of the 45th US President’s first term, the announcement of a UK General Election, and recent elections in the Netherlands and France.

“It is beyond an honour to host Professor Chomsky here at the University of Reading. His work in linguistics has been the gold standard for nearly 60 years, having completely changed the way in which we understand and investigate language as well as the human mind more generally.
Professor Jason Rothman, Professor of Literacy and Multilingualism

“Whether or not one agrees with any particular ideas, nobody would deny the influence of Professor Chomsky’s work on literally hundreds of those of scholars throughout the world over the past six decades of his career. Without Professor Chomsky the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, psychology and political science would be very different from what we know them to be today. As far as academics go, he is the closest thing to a bona fide celebrity that we have.”

In his lecture, Professor Chomsky discussed recent political movements as well as electoral outcomes such as the US presidential elections and Brexit and similar developments across Europe. He contextualised them in relation to human behaviour and what seems to him to be their broader – in fact, far broader – significance.

Chomsky was the latest high-profile speaker at the Albert Wolters Lecture, which has previously seen high profile linguistic academics Professor Steven Pinker and Professor Ellen Bialystok address audiences and be awarded a Distinguished Visiting Professorship recognising their influential role in their field.

Professor Laurie Butler, head of the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, said:

“The Albert Wolters Annual Lecture has seen some of the finest minds in the fields of psychology and linguistics visit the University of Reading to inspire future generations. With Professor Chomsky’s work in psychology and linguistics, it is a natural fit and a great honour to award him with a Distinguished Visiting Professorship from the University of Reading. As a leading university at the forefront of research in areas including psychology, linguistics and neuroscience, we are tremendously excited to be welcoming arguably the world’s best known linguist.”

Learn more about one of the oldest schools of psychology in the UK: https://www.reading.ac.uk/psychology/

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