More than 200 academics sign open letter accusing Cambridge don of publishing ‘racist pseudoscience’
- Dr Noah Carl has previously argued in support of eugenics and claimed opposition to immigration can be based on ‘rational beliefs’
- The University of Cambridge research fellow has now been accused of publishing ‘ethically suspect and methodologically flawed work’
- Professors at top universities have published an open letter demanding Cambridge carry out an investigation into the appointment process
More than 200 academics have signed a letter accusing a controversial Cambridge academic of publishing ‘racist pseudoscience’.
Dr Noah Carl has previously argued in support of eugenics and claimed that opposition to immigration can be based on ‘rational beliefs’.
The University of Cambridge research fellow has now been accused of publishing ‘ethically suspect and methodologically flawed work’ by academics. the Times reported.
Professors at top universities in the UK and abroad including Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton published the open letter demanding Cambridge carry out an investigation into its appointment process.
Dr Noah Carl (pictured) has previously argued in support of eugenics and claimed that opposition to immigration can be based on ‘rational beliefs’.
‘A careful consideration of Carl’s published work and public stance on various issues, particularly on the claimed relationship between ‘race’, ‘criminality’ and ‘genetic intelligence’, leads us to conclude that his work is ethically suspect and methodologically flawed’, it says.
They said that they are ‘deeply concerned that racist pseudoscience is being legitimised through association with the University of Cambridge.’
They added: ‘This fellowship was awarded to Carl despite his attendance at, and public defence of, the discredited ‘London Conference on Intelligence’, where racist and pseudoscientific work has been regularly presented.
‘Carl’s work has already been used by extremist and far-right media outlets with the aim of stoking xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric…this kind of pseudoscientific racism runs the serious risk of being used to justify policies that directly harm vulnerable populations.’
The public condemnation comes amid increasing concerns about free speech on campuses.
Dr Carl is a passionate advocate of free speech and has previously stated that ‘stifling of debate around taboo topics can itself do active harm’.
His research has been backed by various far right US media groups, including Info Wars, which is headed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
University College London launched an investigation earlier this year into how a secret conferences on eugenics and intelligence took place on campus.
The London Conference on Intelligence – which academics have criticised Dr Carl for attending – is said to have been run secretly for at least three years by James Thompson, an honorary senior lecturer at the university.
Toby Young sparked controversy after it was revealed he attended the conference. He later resigned from his position as director of the Office for Students amid the public outcry.
In response, Mr Young said: ‘Attendees were only told the venue at the last minute, an anonymous ante-chamber at the end of a long corridor, called ‘lecture room 22’, and asked not to share this infor-mation with anyone else.’
He added: ‘One of the attendees, on discovering I was a journalist, pleaded with me not to write about the fact he was there – he didn’t want his colleagues to find out.
‘But these precautions were not unreasonable, considering the reaction that any reference to between-group differences in IQ generally provoke.’