Generative Syntax in the Twenty-First Century: The Road Ahead

Ph.D. student Alex Motut has recently returned from Greece, where she attended a conference called "Generative Syntax in the Twenty-First Century: The Road Ahead", held May 28-30 at the University of Athens. It was organized by linguists from the University of Athens, CASTL (Centre for Advanced Study in Theoretical Linguistics), the University of Stuttgart, NTNU, and CUNY/HAS.

The conference featured an extensive list of invited speakers and two small poster sessions. It focused on taking stock of the achievements of generative syntax in the past few decades but also looking ahead to what crucial questions remain unanswered and how we can establish more consensus in the field in terms of our theoretical assumptions and what empirical discoveries form the core of our theory. There was also discussion of methodology and interfacing with other subdisciplines of linguistics, as well as discussion about communication with other related fields in the cognitive sciences and outreach to the public. Most of the conference was in an open discussion/panel discussion format.

Alex presented a poster ("The road ahead is 'remote': Core operations, remote dependencies in binding, control"), and after the conference had the chance to check out Athens - the Parthenon, Acropolis, Plaka district, Lycabettus hill, etc. - amidst some great weather!

(Post courtesy of Alex Motut.)