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Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College's course descriptions average 68.9 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Bowdoin College reads 1.4 points further left.

ShowCompared withDepartments

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)

Bowdoin College: 68.9 (likely range 67.8 to 70.0) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

2%Far left92–100

20%Left75–91

74%Center-left59–74

4%Center42–58

0%Center-right26–41

0%Right9–25

0%Far right0–8

220 plotted courses (the ones with a political framing). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right.

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Framing Subject

Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest left

LACL 3517 · (b) Rebel Ecology: Black and Native Struggles for Land and Life Against Extraction93

Ethnic & African American Studies

Considers Dr. Guess's (2021) concept and theory of a "rebel ecology '' by asking, more broadly, what other socioecological models exist? Weaves together a study of differing, yet often converging or synergistic traditions of Black/Womanist…

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AFRS 2348 · (b, IP) Girlhood and Empire: Girls, Power, and Resistance in Global Perspectives92

Ethnic & African American Studies

Investigates the construction of girlhood through the lens of global feminist resistance, centering the writings and struggles of young women and femmes in the experience and practice of colonized, transnational, and refugee girlhood. With…

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GSWS 2001 · (DPI) Queer Theory92

Women's & Gender Studies

This course introduces students to major theoretical debates that have shaped the interdisciplinary field of queer studies. Through readings and media that interrogate LGBTQ+ lived experiences, artistic expression, and activism, this class…

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Furthest right

GOV 3200 · (b) Advanced Seminar in Political Theory: Tocqueville42

Political Science

More than 150 years after its publication, "Democracy in America" remains the most powerful sympathetic critique of modern liberal democracy ever written. Careful reading of the text and selected secondary sources leads to examination of…

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Why this number, in plain words

Political lean of course descriptions. Average Framing score (0 = far right, 50 = center, 100 = far left) of the scored courses in the group.

50 is the survey-anchored center of US adults on each issue (the "moderate" place of the ANES/GSS/PRRI seven-label ruler), not the cohort midpoint; scores above 50 read leftward, below 50 rightward.

Counted: courses with a Framing score (categories L/R/B/C). The likely range (95% interval) is 67.8 to 70.0; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

Most course descriptions carry no political lean at all and are not in this average; the "share described from the left" view counts them.
Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.

Bowdoin College by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	54.4%	90	view
Sociology	48.8%	41	view
Anthropology	44.4%	45	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	36.4%	173	view
History	20.2%	114	view
English & Comparative Literature	19.7%	117	view
Religious Studies	10%	40	view
Art & Art History	9.2%	76	view
Political Science	8.2%	110	view
Philosophy	2.1%	47	view
Economics	0%	53	view
Psychology	0%	27	view

Lean (mean Framing score) is not published per department within a school; only the left-framed share is. Department rows carry no interval.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method

Name	Metric	Value	95% interval	n	scored
Bowdoin College	mean_bias_score	68.9	67.8 – 70.0	933	220
All 100 schools	mean_bias_score	67.5	67.4 – 67.7	124,290	10,124

Formula: SUM(bias_score) / COUNT(bias_score)
Interval: normal approximation: mean +/- 1.96 * sd / sqrt(n), sample sd (n-1); undefined when n < 2
Model / prompt / snapshot: gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats: Scored courses only (L/R/B/C); N and I carry no score and are excluded, so n here is smaller than the group's course count. Scores are model readings of catalog description text against a fixed anchored definition, not teaching or syllabi. The interval covers sampling noise in the mean only; it does not represent model reading error. Every value carries a `method` label: exact_rows or histogram_midpoint.

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