History
4 credits (Spring) Examines the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, from the appearance of the revolutionary movement in the 19th century to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Key topics will include the origins of the revolution, the…
All schools · Liberal arts college
Grinnell College
Grinnell College's course descriptions average 68.7 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Grinnell College reads 1.2 points further left.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
5%Far left92–100
46%Left75–91
31%Center-left59–74
10%Center42–58
1%Center-right26–41
5%Right9–25
1%Far right0–8
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.
Furthest-left subjects
Philosophy
4 credits (Fall) This course engages closely three works by thinker, psychiatrist, and activist Frantz Fanon ( Black Skins, White Masks, A Dying Colonialism , and The Wretched of the Earth ). The course will focus on developing skills for…
Philosophy
4 credits (Spring) This survey course approaches significant critical contributions in the history of European modern colonialism starting in 1492. Traditions studied in the course include decolonial Marxisms, postcolonial and decolonial…
Furthest-right subjects
History
4 credits (Fall or Spring) An introduction to the 10-country region, with an emphasis on the Republic of South Africa. Regional geography along with culture and politics are principal themes, including the rise and fall of the South African…
Political Science
4 credits (Fall or Spring) This course investigates the relationship between Islam and a variety of political outcomes, such as regime type, political violence, inequality, social tolerance, and political organization. Questions we explore…
Religious Studies
4 credits (Fall or Spring) Cross-listed as: HIS 285 . This course will use the work of 12th century scholar Ibn Rushd (Averroës) as a window into the theory and historical practice of Islamic law. We will cover a range of specific topics…
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 66.6 to 70.8; 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.
Grinnell College by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's & Gender Studies | 61.5% | 13 | view |
| Sociology | 30% | 30 | view |
| Anthropology | 17.8% | 45 | view |
| History | 8.2% | 49 | view |
| Political Science | 7.4% | 27 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 7.1% | 70 | view |
| Philosophy | 5.7% | 35 | view |
| Religious Studies | 5.6% | 36 | view |
| Psychology | 3.0% | 33 | view |
| Art & Art History | 2.2% | 45 | view |
| Economics | 0% | 40 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grinnell College | mean_bias_score | 68.7 | 66.6 – 70.8 | 423 | 42 |
| 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.