Noah Carl

Carl received a BA in Human Sciences, an MSc in sociology and a DPhil in Sociology from the University of Oxford.{{cite web|url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-noah-carl|title=Dr Noah Carl The Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow|publisher=St. Edmund's College website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329224750/https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-noah-carl|access-date=7 December 2018|archive-date=29 March 2019}} His DPhil thesis was titled Cognitive ability and socio-political beliefs and attitudes.{{cite thesis |last=Carl |first=Noah |date=2017 |title=Cognitive ability and socio-political beliefs and attitudes |type= |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:856fc58a-120f-4a51-a569-422e201e9f61 |access-date=21 June 2022}} Prior to his appointment to the St Edmund's College, Cambridge fellowship, Carl received media attention for papers on the link between artistic tastes and views on Brexit,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/10/brexit-supporters-realism-remainers-impressionism-art-study-sociologists|title=Brexiters like realism, remainers prefer impressionist art, study finds|last1=Hern|first1=Alex|date=10 October 2018|access-date=7 December 2018}} the reasons why London pubs are disappearing,{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/08/24/why-londons-pubs-are-disappearing|title=Why London's pubs are disappearing|date=24 August 2017|access-date=10 December 2018|publisher=The Economist}} and a study for Adam Smith Institute which found that conservatives were heavily underrepresented among academics at British universities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/academias-lurch-to-the-left-raises-concerns-for-campus-free-speech-wgjllq8lq|title=Lurch to left raises concerns for campus free speech|last=Hurst|first=Greg|date=2 March 2017|work=The Times|access-date=8 December 2018|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/03/must-ever-vigilant-lefts-insidous-domination-institutions/|title=We must be ever vigilant of the Left's insidious domination of our institutions|last=Moore|first=Charles|date=3 March 2017|work=The Telegraph|access-date=8 December 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} Additionally, he was in the news for a study on the relationship between intelligence and trust in other members of society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/study-smarter-people-are-more-trusting/284520/|title=Study: Smarter People Are More Trusting|last=Beck|first=Julie|date=20 March 2014|website=The Atlantic}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/trends/studie-der-universitaet-oxford-intelligente-menschen-vertrauen-anderen-schneller/9632766.html|title=Studie der Universität Oxford: Warum dumme Menschen keinem trauen|website=Wirtschaftswoche|language=de|date=18 March 2014}}

His work has been published in academic journals such as Intelligence, the Journal of Biosocial Science, the British Journal of Sociology, as well as Mankind Quarterly, which is commonly described as a white supremacist journal.{{Cite news |last=Ben |first=van der Merwe |date=7 December 2018 |title=Former Nuffield fellow denounced for "racist pseudoscience" |url=https://cherwell.org/2018/12/07/former-nuffield-fellow-denounced-for-racist-pseudoscience/ |work=Cherwell |quote=Carl has also written for Mankind Quarterly, described as a white supremacist journal and published by the Pioneer Fund, a pro-eugenics fund which also bankrolls Jared Taylor’s white nationalist American Renaissance.}}{{Cite news |last=Saini |first=Angela |title=Why race science is on the rise again |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/race-science-on-the-rise-angela-saini |work=The Guardian |pages=18 May 2019}} As of 2018, he was the second most prolific contributor to OpenPsych, an online publisher that has been described in the New Statesman as a "pseudo-science factory-farm".{{cite web|last=Van der Merwe|first=Ben|date=20 December 2018|title=No, objecting to Cambridge's appointment of a eugenicist is not about free speech|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2018/12/no-objecting-cambridge-s-appointment-eugenicist-not-about-free-speech|work=New Statesman}} According to an article in the New Statesman from February 2018, Carl had also published two papers on whether larger Muslim populations make terrorism more likely and one suggesting that British stereotypes about immigrants are "largely accurate".{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2018/02/it-might-be-pseudo-science-students-take-threat-eugenics-seriously|title=It might be a pseudo science, but students take the threat of eugenics seriously|last1=Van Der Merwe|first1=Ben|date=19 February 2018|publisher=New Statesman|access-date=7 December 2018}} In relation to the latter article, the New Statesman quoted Dr. Niko Yiannakoulias of McMaster University as commenting: "It is never OK to publish research this bad, even in an inconsequential online journal."

Carl has spoken twice at the London Conference on Intelligence, a private conference on human intelligence at which some attendees presented papers on race and intelligence and eugenics. He was one of 15 attendees to collaborate on a letter defending the conference following media coverage. The letter was published in the journal Intelligence in September 2018.{{cite journal|last1=Woodley of Menie|first1=Michael A.|last2=Dutton|first2=Edward|last3=Figueredo|first3=Aurelio-José|author-link3=Aurelio José Figueredo|last4=Carl|first4=Noah|author-link4=Noah Carl|last5=Debes|first5=Fróði|last6=Hertler|first6=Steven|last7=Irwing|first7=Paul|author-link7=Paul Irwing|last8=Kura|first8=Kenya|last9=Lynn|first9=Richard|author-link9=Richard Lynn|date=September 2018|title=Communicating intelligence research: Media misrepresentation, the Gould Effect, and unexpected forces|journal=Intelligence|volume=70|pages=84–87|doi=10.1016/j.intell.2018.04.002|last10=Madison|first10=Guy|last11=Meisenberg|first11=Gerhard|author-link11=Gerhard Meisenberg|last12=Miller|first12=Edward M.|author-link12=Edward M. Miller|last13=te Nijenhuis|first13=Jan|author-link13=Jan te Nijenhuis|last14=Nyborg|first14=Helmuth|author-link14=Helmuth Nyborg|last15=Rindermann|first15=Heiner|s2cid=150156004|author-link15=Heiner Rindermann}}

In December 2018, Carl was awarded the Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellowship, a 3-year fellowship at St Edmund's College. More than 500 academics signed a letter opposing Carl's appointment to the fellowship, stating their "deep concern" that "racist pseudoscience is being legitimised through association with the University of Cambridge."{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/cambridge-dons-revolt-over-racist-fellow-s-role-3gfnjrjsh|title=Cambridge dons revolt over 'racist' fellow's role|last1=Lally|first1=Catherine|date=7 December 2018|access-date=7 December 2018|work=The Times}} Clément Mouhot, one of the letter's organizers, was quoted in The Guardian as saying that Carl's work relied on "selective use of data and unsound statistical methods which have been used to legitimise racist stereotypes about groups".{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Richard|date=7 December 2018|title=Cambridge gives role to academic accused of racist stereotyping|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/cambridge-gives-role-to-academic-accused-of-racist-stereotyping|access-date=2 May 2019}} The St Edmund's Combination Room also produced a statement arguing that Carl's work "demonstrated poor scholarship, promoted extreme right-wing views and incited racial and religious hatred."

An internal investigation at St Edmund's concluded that Carl's work demonstrated "poor scholarship" and "did not comply with established criteria for research ethics and integrity", and that it fell outside the normal protections for academic free speech as a result.{{cite news|last1=Bradbury|first1=Rosie|last2=Cook|first2=Joe|date=30 April 2019|title=Controversial research fellow Noah Carl dismissed by St Edmund's|language=en|work=Varsity Online|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17456|access-date=2 May 2019}} The investigation also found that Carl had "collaborated with a number of individuals who were known to hold extremist views", and that continuing his affiliation would risk allowing the college to be used to "promote views that could incite racial or religious hatred" and damage the reputation of the college. Carl was subsequently dismissed from his fellowship. A separate investigation into the appointment process itself found no irregularities in the process of recruiting Carl, but did recommend changes to future hiring procedures.{{Cite web|last=Elias|first=Patrick|date=30 April 2019|title=External Investigation into the appointment of the Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow|url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/files/attachments/Investigation%20report%20for%20the%20website.pdf|website=St Edmunds College, Cambridge}}

An editorial in The Times was critical of the decision to terminate Carl's post, arguing that his "main offence seems to have been to challenge the 'woke' left-wing orthodoxy".{{Cite news |date=10 May 2019 |title=The Times view on the sacking of Noah Carl: Monoversities |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/the-times-view-on-the-sacking-of-noah-carl-monoversities-fhc7027qb |work=The Times}} Opinion columnists in The Telegraph and The Spectator also criticised the decision.{{Cite news |last=Mirza |first=Munira |date=5 May 2019 |title=Intolerant zealots are strangling the intellectual freedom of our universities |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/05/intolerant-zealots-strangling-intellectual-freedom-universities/ |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/the-truth-about-noah-carl/|title=The truth about Noah Carl|last=Campbell|first=Hugh|date=4 May 2019|work=The Spectator}}

Historian Evan Smith argued that the narrative advanced by Carl's defenders "has little basis in reality", and that it is rather these defenders who seek to stifle free speech by mobilizing a fear of "wokeness" in order to diffuse the power of student protest.{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Evan|date=26 June 2021|title=Conservatives Are the Ones Attacking Free Speech at Universities|work=Jacobin|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/06/australia-coalition-conservatives-liberal-party-free-speech-universities-campus-french-report}}{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Evan|date=10 August 2020|title=The 'crisis' over academic freedom from the 1970s to the 2020s|url=https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/the-crisis-over-academic-freedom-from-the-1970s-to-the-2020s/|journal=History Workshop Journal|volume=91}} Reaction from supporters of Carl's firing also focused on questioning whether St Edmund's had failed to properly vet him before he was hired in the first place.{{Cite news|last=Dexter|first=Louis|title=Can Cambridge University just listen to their student body and stop letting in unethical, unacademic right-wing speakers, like, now please?|work=The Cambridge Tab|url=https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2019/05/09/can-cambridge-university-just-listen-to-their-student-body-and-stop-letting-in-unethical-unacademic-right-wing-speakers-like-now-please-124421}}{{Cite news |last=van der Merwe |first=Ben |date=1 May 2019 |title=Former Nuffield fellow Noah Carl expelled from Cambridge |url=https://cherwell.org/2019/05/01/former-nuffield-fellow-noah-carl-expelled-from-cambridge/ |work=Cherwell}}

In June 2019, Noah Carl began crowdfunding a legal challenge to his dismissal.{{cite news|last1=Bradbury|first1=Rosie|last2=van der Merwe|first2=Ben|date=12 July 2019|title=Developer who created crowdfunding site for white supremacists set up private limited company for Noah Carl|work=Varsity|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17727|access-date=26 June 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Toby |title=How Noah Carl is fighting back against Cambridge |url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/06/how-noah-carl-is-fighting-back-against-cambridge/ |publisher=The Spectator |access-date=28 June 2019}} In September 2019 his $100,000 fundraising goal was reached.{{cite news |last1=Stacey |first1=Stephanie |title=Dismissed research fellow Noah Carl raises over $100,000 to fund legal action against Eddie's |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17849 |access-date=5 October 2019 |work=Varsity |date=24 September 2019}} Varsity reported that this campaign was coordinated by a company created by a developer named Conner Douglass who had provided similar services to white nationalist Richard Spencer and other neo-Nazis involved in the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.{{Cite news|last=Stacey|first=Stephanie|date=24 September 2019|title=Dismissed research fellow Noah Carl raises over $100,000 to fund legal action against Eddie's|work=Varsity|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17849}}

In March 2021, Carl withdrew his claim; the case was settled by a confidential agreement between both parties.{{cite web |url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/files/St%20Edmunds%20College%20Announcement%2003-03-2021.pdf |title=St Edmund's College Announcement 03-03-2021 |author= |date=3 March 2021 |website= |publisher=St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge |access-date=9 June 2021 |quote=}}

Reviewing the controversy surrounding Carl's dismissal in 2023, scholar John M. Herbert distinguished between academic freedom and inflammatory remarks including racism in a different setting, for example arguing that "academic freedom is not the same as absolution or immunity from the consequences of extramural speech." He would go on to support Carl being dismissed on the basis Carl authored pseudoscience papers outside of his research at the University of Cambridge and also commented: "Noah Carl's Oxford credentials were touted by White supremacists in order to promote eugenics."Herbert, John M. "[https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/dd/d2dd00111j Academic free speech or right-wing grievance?]." Digital Discovery 2, no. 2 (2023): 260-297.

Since October 2021, Carl has been a director of the company Skeptics Ltd., publisher of The Daily Sceptic which promotes misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and climate change denial.Nafeez Ahmed. [https://bylinetimes.com/2022/01/25/conservation-rebellion-against-johnson-led-by-pandemic-disinformation-network/ Conservative Rebellion Against Johnson Led by Pandemic Disinformation Network]. Byline Times. 25 January 2022.[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13246865/officers Skeptics Ltd]. Companies House.

Carl is a frequent writer for The Daily Sceptic and has published articles critical of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom as well as support for the Great Barrington Declaration.{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03063968231164905 | doi=10.1177/03063968231164905 | title=An anatomy of the British war on woke | date=2023 | last1=c. Davies | first1=Huw | last2=MacRae | first2=Sheena E. | journal=Race & Class | volume=65 | issue=2 | pages=3–54 }}

Carl is currently an editor for Aporia Magazine, owned by the far-right Human Diversity Foundation, which has published interviews with eugenicists and advocates of scientific racism.{{Cite web|author=Wilson, Jason|date=2024|title=Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to 'scientific racism' journal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal|website=The Guardian|language=en-GB|archive-date=June 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620223458/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal|url-status=live}}

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• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHrfJ2DdnJ0 Discussion of the appointment controversy] from BBC Two's Politics Live, 10 May 2019

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Category:Living people

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Category:Academics of the University of Oxford

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Category:People involved in race and intelligence controversies

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Category:COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy