Seminar by Dr. Lyle Jenkins
Biolinguistics as a cognitive science
Dr. Lyle Jenkins
Biolinguistics Institute, Boston
Date: Sunday, Jan 17, 2006
Time: 1430
Venue: CS 102Abstract:
Biolinguistics is the study of the biology of language and tries to answer the traditional questions:
1) What is knowledge of language?
2) How is language acquired?
3) How does language evolve in the species?
Biolinguistics has a rich tradition, including what is somethimes called the 'first cognitive revolution' and the 'second cognitive revolution'. We will try to show that bilinguistics may serve as an instructive example for the study of the cognitive sciences.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Lyle Jenkins got his PhD in linguistics with Noam Chomsky from MIT with a dissertation on syntax of modal verbs in English. He taught linguistics at the Universities of Vienna, Salzburg, Paris-Vincennes and Hamburg. Currently, he works at the Biolinguistics Institute a non-profit organization devoted to the study of the biology of language. He is the author and editor of several books. Recent books include: Biolinguistics - exploring the biology of language, CUP, 2000 and has edited Variations and universals in biolinguistics, Elsevier, 2004.