2023 Theoretical Linguistics at Keio-EMU Linguistics as Scientific Inquiry Lecture Series 3

Working Toward
the Strong Interpretation ofSMT

We start our discussion by exploring the history, form, and function of the most fundamental operation of the narrowsyntax, Merge. The question we'll focus on is this: What 'should' Merge do, what 'should' Merge not do; and, mostimportantly, why? With this question, our primary goal is to explore Chomsky's recent thinking on Merge, from a series oflectures and papers, and ultimately trace conclusions of the following two forthcoming papers: “Merge and SMT” by N.
Chomsky, R. Berwick, S. Fong, M.A.C. Huybregts, H. Kitahara, A. McInnerney, T.D. Seely, Y. Sugimoto, in R. Freidin (ed)Elements, Cambridge, and “The Miracle Creed and SMT” by N. Chomsky, in M. Greco & D. Mocci (eds).

Noam Chomsky(University of Arizona)

Laureate Professor, Linguistics, University of Arizona
He is Institute Professor emeritus at MIT. He has written and lectured
widely on linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science and social-politicalissues. He is a member of numerous professional societies in the US
and abroad, and recipient of many awards.

There were five lectures in this lecture
series, and they were held on thefollowing dates with three lecturers inthree different time zones.
Lecture 1
Tucson, Arizona (USA)Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)Tokyo, JapanT. Daniel Seely(Eastern Michigan University)
Professor, Program in Linguistics, Eastern Michigan University
He is the co-author of numerous articles and a number of books, including
Derivation and Explanation in the Minimalist Program (2002), Derivationsin Minimalism (2006), Explorations in Maximizing Syntactic Minimization(2015), and A Minimalist Theory of Simplest Merge (2022). He is therecipient of many teaching awards and honors.

Hisatsugu Kitahara(Keio University)

Professor, Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University
His expertise is in theoretical linguistics, addressing fundamental issues
regarding the nature of phrase structure and movement. His books include
Elementary Operations and Optimal Derivations (1997) and co-authored:
A Derivational Approach to Syntactic Relations (1998), Explorations inMaximizing Syntactic Minimization (2015), and A Minimalist Theory ofSimplest Merge (2022).

March 8 (Wed)March 8 (Wed)March 9 (Thu)

18:00~19:00 + Q&A
20:00~21:00 + Q&A
10:00~11:00 + Q&A

March 10 (Fri)March 10 (Fri)March 11 (Sat)

18:00~19:00 + Q&A
20:00~21:00 + Q&A
10:00~11:00 + Q&A

Lecture 2
Tucson, Arizona (USA)Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)Tokyo, Japan

Lecture 3
Tucson, Arizona (USA)Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)Tokyo, Japan

March 13 (Mon) 18:00~19:00 + Q&A
March 13 (Mon) 21:00~22:00 + Q&A
March 14 (Tue) 10:00~11:00 + Q&A

Lecture 4
Tucson, Arizona (USA)Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)Tokyo, Japan

March 15 (Wed) 18:00~19:00 + Q&A
March 15 (Wed) 21:00~22:00 + Q&A
March 16 (Thu) 10:00~11:00 + Q&A

Lecture 5
Tucson, Arizona (USA)Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)Tokyo, Japan

March 17 (Fri)March 17 (Fri)March 18 (Sat)

18:00~19:00 + Q&A
21:00~22:00 + Q&A
10:00~11:00 + Q&A

You can join and watch all five lectures at DMC Keio.
All five lectures are uploaded to DMC KeioUniv in April 2023
and publically available to everyone.
(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWXQYx-RCmeP7B2UtIA8OJsvAF-xvjDuZ)