 

The Grandmother Tree 
Walk

WHAT: Celebrate the 
bicentennial by taking this self-
guided tour of 12 historic trees in 
the Arboretum. 

WHO: Matthaei Botanical 
Gardens and Nichols Arboretum 

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

WHERE: Nichols Arboretum

As part of its eighth annual 

Marshall 
M. 
Weinberg 

Symposium on Saturday, the 
Weinberg Institute for Cognitive 
Science hosted Noam Chomsky, 
an 
MIT 
professor, 
linguist 

and 
cognitive 
scientist. 
The 

interdisciplinary symposium titled 
“The Architecture and Evolution 
of the Human Language Capacity” 

showcased speakers from the 
fields of philosophy, psychology, 
linguistics and cognitive science. 

The event itself appealed to 

people from many backgrounds, 
including 
Naila 
Ashraf, 
a 

University of Michigan alum.

“I’m not a linguist,” she said. 

“I don’t know anything about 
cognitive science. I came to see 
him because he’s a living legend. 
I am really interested about his 
political activism and his critique 
of American democracy as well as 

global political systems.”

Chomsky’s 
presentation 

centered 
on 
the 
Galilean 

Challenge, where Galileo urged 
linguists to show how just a few 
sounds can construct “an infinite 
variety of expressions (that) reveal 
all the secrets of the mind.”

University alum Mahela Ashraf 

questioned the challenge’s premise 
of infinite language. 

“Isn’t there going to be a point 

at which you come to a realization 
that everything meaningful that 
had to be said will have been said 
by 2050, and from then on, you 
are only trying to interpret those 
really original thoughts?”

Chomsky explained how he 

has addressed this aim and how 
the challenge itself has evolved, 
asserting the challenge had not 
been taken up until the mid-20th 
century because the intellectual 
tools were not available. However, 
mathematicians have established 
a theory of computability, which 
illustrates how our brains can 
generate infinite variations of 
expressions.

In doing so, mathematicians 

have made possible the “basic 
property” of human language — 
the ability to digitally build an 
infinite amount of structured 
expressions, 
which 
can 
be 

interpreted into a thought and 
externalized. The product of this 
is what he calls “the language 
of thought,” or the system of 
thoughts that, when externalized, 
can be used for communication. 

“The language faculty of the 

human brain provides the means 
to construct a digitally infinite 
array of hierarchically structured 
expressions,” he said. “Each of 
which is semantically interpreted 
as expressing thought, and each 
of which can be, and sometimes 
is, externalized in one or another 
sensory modality.”

However, Chomsky believes 

internal language is used more 
than external language. Internal 
language refers to the linguistic 
knowledge inside the mind of 
the speaker; therefore, external 
language is only internal language 

Famed linguist Noam Chomsky 
discusses linguistics and thought

MIT professor, social activist talks emergence of language with human evolution 

NICOLE TSUNO

For the Daily

 

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES

Agupacion Xango

WHAT: This will be the first 
day in a two-day workshop 
series about issues that affect 
Argentina’s Black population, 
led by LGBTQ and Black rights 
activist Carlos Alvarez Nazareno.
WHO: Center for Global and 
Intercultural Study Ambassadors

WHEN: Noon to 1 p.m.

WHERE: Michigan Union, Pond 
Room

The 27th Golden Apple 
Award: The Unexpected 
Benefits of Pain, Passion 
and Pets

WHAT: Economics professor 
Edward Cho will give a his “ideal 
last lecture,” open to the public, 
as the winner of the Golden 
Apple Award.

WHO: Golden Apple Award

WHEN: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Rackham Graduate 
School, auditorium

String Quartet Recital

WHAT: String quartets 
composed of student performers 
will play music by Mendelssohn, 
Debussy and Shostakovich.

WHO: School of Music, Theatre 
& Dance

WHEN: 8 p.m.

WHERE: Walgreen Drama 
Center, Stamps Auditorium

Dinosaur Tour 

WHAT: This docent-led tour 
leads dinosaur fans through the 
Museum of Natural History’s 
dinosaur exhibits. 

WHO: Museum of Natural 
History

WHEN: 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: Ruthven Museums 
Building

Scan the Plan: LSA’s 
6-Month Progress 
Report

WHAT: Visit a Dean’s Office 
representative to get the LSA’s 
DEI progress report scanned 
onto your phone and a free 
donut. 

WHO: LSA

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

WHERE: Angell Hall , Angell-
Haven connector

Annual Copernicus 
Lecture: The Glory 
and Poverty of the ‘68 
Generation

WHAT: Adam Michnik, a 
historian and journalist, will give 
a lecture about the landmark year 
of 1968 in Eastern Europe. 
WHO: Copernicus Program in 
Polish Studies 
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

WHERE: Museum of Art 

University Choir

WHAT: The University choir 
will perform several selections 
at this free concert. 

WHO: School of Music, Theatre 
& Dance

WHEN: 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Hill Auditorium

Ann Arbor residents and 

Detroiters alike worked together for 

the University of Michigan’s largest 

day of service learning this past 

weekend, as over 900 University 

students traveled to the city for a series 

of volunteer projects centered around 

clean-up and farming. 

The event was organized by The 

Detroit Partnership, a student-run 

nonprofit aiming to unite Ann Arbor 

residents and Detroiters. This year 

marked the 17th annual day of service 

connecting students to volunteer sites 

across the city.

“Volunteers participate in various 

hands-on projects throughout the city 

of Detroit, from urban gardening, to 

clean up and demolition with a focus 

on community revitalization,” the 

organization’s website reads.

Twenty-one service sites from 

around the city participated in DP Day. 

At each site, Community Coordinators 

helped to run volunteer projects and 

lead reflections at the end of the day, 

with assistance from student site 

leaders.

This year, University students 

also partnered with volunteers from 

University of Detroit Mercy, Wayne 

State University and UM-Dearborn.

LSA sophomore Myka Yamasaki is 

a member of the education team of The 

Detroit Partnership. She participated 

in the day herself, volunteering at 

Greydale Farm in the Brightmoor 

neighborhood.

“It’s an urban farm, so we did 

mostly a lot of trash pickup,” she said. 

“A lot of people were helping create 

dirt piles that will be used to help 

grow produce.”

Yamasaki said she and other 

student participants felt they were 

really making a difference through DP 

Day, and were glad they could offer 

real assistance to the farm’s owner.

“The woman who owns the farm 

… said she was really happy we were 

there,” Yamasaki said. “She said that 

the amount of trash pickup on the 

farm and in the surrounding area, 

and the woodchip and leaf litter piles, 

would’ve taken her three months to do 

on her own. It was pretty good to hear 

that we could actually do something 

helpful for them, instead of them just 

feeling like they’re hosting us.”

The stated goal of the day was to 

involve students in the city and begin 

to build a connection, and Yamasaki 

said she saw students becoming more 

invested. She said there was a lot of 

interest in The Detroit Partnership’s 

weekly volunteer programs, which 

connect students to the city 

throughout the school year.

“People were really willing to ask 

me questions about what (else) Detroit 

Partnership does besides DP Day … 

which is really cool, because that’s 

something we want to encourage,” she 

said. “It’s not just one day, volunteering 

and forming a partnership with 

Detroit, so it’s really great to see.”

- MAYA GOLDMAN

ON THE DAILY: SPRING INTO VOLUNTEER WORK

JOSHUA HAN/Daily

University of Michigan-Dearborn political science professor Ronald Stockton speaks about 
Muslim gravestones in Southeast Michigan and what it means to be Muslim in America at 
the School of Social Work last Monday. 

CULTUR AL E XPLOR ATION

Tweets

Michigan Dining
@MichiganDining

Announcing our newest menu 
item at Beanster’s in the 
League: the Chicken Bacon 
MoJo Cookie Sandwich! Avail-
able 4/3

Follow @michigandaily

Dr. Mark Schlissel
@DrMarkSchlissel

A 3 OT thriller! Congrats to 
the @UMichwbball #WNIT 
champions #GoBlue!!

Angela Dillard
@adillard4

Worked all weekend & am 
delighted -- overjoyed -- to have 
my Inbox down to 25 emails. 
How is this my life? What 
happened? #RightToBeLazy

Liliana Gorsuch
@lilianag719

St Fratty’s Day and hash bash 
or the only times you’ll see 
green at umich

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