Course Plan
It seems that both votes are equally divided among the three options (with one person suggesting two topics).1 I suggest then that we begin with a deep read of Chomsky’s “Explaining Language Use,” before moving on to an overview of MDL. Although both MDL and Attribute Grammars received a vote each, I think that there is more synergy involved in the department with the topic of MDL.
Chomksy’s article appears in an issue of a philosophical journal dedicated to the philosophy of Hilary Putnam (one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century).