Bureau of DisruptionAll schools · Liberal arts college
Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin 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.
Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.
Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.
Ethnic & African American Studies
An introduction to ongoing topics in colonialism, racial thinking, environmental studies, global, and Caribbean studies. Examines how race, gender, and class operate under racial capitalism and settler colonialism. Readings will center on…
Political Science
Explores the most dramatic political event of the twentieth century: the collapse of Soviet communism and Russia's subsequent political development. Begins by examining the Soviet system and the political and social upheaval of the late…
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…
Ethnic & African American Studies
The study of apartheid in South Africa, the system of racial and ethnic segregation that began in 1948 and ended with the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. Explores the many different facets of apartheid: how and why it emerged; its…
History
Examines the German experience of Nazism from its origins in WWI through twelve years of Hitler's rule (1933-1945). Working with a diverse set of primary sources, including film, photography, art, posters, letters, diaries, and memoirs,…
History
Surveys the history of the United States from its founding in 1783 to the secession that sparked civil war in 1861. Topics covered will include the nature of the federal compact, the expansion of slavery, the divergence of South and North,…
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.
| 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.
| 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 |