What: Confluence of Challenges: The Fate of the Human Experiment
Where: Zoom
When: Feb. 2, 11 a.m.
Admission: Free (must pre-register at )
A free lecture series at the University of Victoria featuring some heavyweight religious, spiritual and theological experts will have its biggest audience to date Tuesday when it welcomes one of the pre-eminent thinkers of the past century, Noam Chomsky, to its online panel.
The university had an inside track when it came to booking the social critic and political activist, who is still active and engaged at 92, for its much-lauded Values for a New World series. Chomsky taught UVic linguistics professor Martha McGinnis when she was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1990s, and he was one of the professors on the dissertation committee for her PhD.
McGinnis remained in contact with the Manufacturing Consent author in the years following her graduation. When everything moved online amid the pandemic, it seemed like a good opportunity to ask him to speak at the co-production between UVic and the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets of British Columbia, she said.
鈥淚 never thought about inviting him until the pandemic came along,鈥� McGinnis said. 鈥淓veryone was connecting over Zoom so I thought, 鈥榃ell, we can invite him now.鈥� 鈥�
Chomsky will present Confluence of Challenges: The Fate of the Human Experiment when he appears before a Victoria audience Tuesday at 11 a.m. through Zoom. The event is free to attend, though participants must pre-register at uvic.ca/csrs/events to join the lecture, which also includes a question-and-answer period. The series continues in the coming months with lectures from author Thomas Homer-Dixon (Feb. 23) and Lancaster University religion professor Linda Woodhead (March 4).
Deemed the most cited living person, with a bibliography more than 150 items deep, Chomsky is still squarely in the public eye. Media outlets and universities frequently solicit the Arizona-based author鈥檚 opinions on everything from capitalism and socialism to the philosophy of language and Donald Trump. His participation in the Values for a New World series will give Victoria audiences a chance to ask questions and hear firsthand from one of the brightest minds of his generation.
鈥淭he series has an over-arching theme of values for a new world, so the issues that were top of mind for all of us relate to things that Chomsky has talked about elsewhere 鈥� climate change, systemic racism and nuclear destruction,鈥� McGinnis said. 鈥淲e know that he has plenty of things to say about that.鈥�
During a recent interview with political scientist C.J. Polychroniou, Chomsky said he believes the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 鈥� a genuine attempt to overthrow the government, in his opinion 鈥� was closer to succeeding than many are aware.
鈥淭he malevolent figure in charge deserves credit for his talent in tapping the poisonous streams that run not far below the surface of American society, with sources that are deep in U.S. history and culture,鈥� Chomsky said. 鈥淭hose who hold the levers of the private power that dominates the society and political system never liked Trump鈥檚 behaviour, which harmed the image they project as humanists dedicated to the common good. But they were willing to tolerate the vulgar performance as long as Trump and his accomplices delivered the goods, lining their pockets by robbing the public.鈥�
Chomsky remains a believer in humankind, in spite of what his research has revealed over the years, McGinnis said. The pursuit of new information remains his driving force. 鈥淗e usually has some eye-opening new information that you won鈥檛 have read about in the regular news media. He reads everything. He reads de-classified documents, and all kinds of things most of us don鈥檛 have the time or resources to delve into, so I expect we will get some new information we have not heard before.鈥�
The advent of social-conferencing technology will enable Chomsky to return to UVic 鈥� virtually, of course 鈥� several times in the coming weeks.
He will join an online discussion with fellow Values for a New World panelists Homer-Dixon, Woodhead, Esi Edugyan and Miroslav Volf that wraps the series on March 16, along with UVic鈥檚 online public Lansdowne Lecture series with a live question period, hosted by the Linguistics Department鈥檚 Colloquium Series, and the Psychology Department鈥檚 Cognitive and Brain Sciences Seminar on March 26. He will also visit McGinnis鈥檚 online graduate/senior undergraduate seminar in syntax on April 1.
Though she considers him a friend, McGinnis is still in awe of Chomsky鈥檚 abilities. 鈥淗e has really been in touch with reality, much more than many of us. Intellectuals are educated in a way to not question a lot of the structures of our society, but we think of ourselves as people who do question those things. He has often been a lone voice amongst well-known intellectuals.
鈥淲hen 9/11 happened and Bush wanted to go in and invade Iraq, it didn鈥檛 seem to add up. But on the whole, professors who were writing about these things were saying that it all made sense. Chomsky was one of the very few people who said: 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 a good idea.鈥� He was really vilified for it, but he was right.鈥�
