History
Not oered regularly; consult department Focuses on American history from the African-American perspective. Includes alternative visions of the nation's future, and denitions of its progress, that have called for a fundamental…
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's course descriptions average 66.6 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Massachusetts Institute of Technology reads 1.0 points further right.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
4%Far left92–100
29%Left75–91
45%Center-left59–74
14%Center42–58
3%Center-right26–41
4%Right9–25
0%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
History
Examines the many ways enslaved people in the Americas resisted slavery, individually and collectively. Studies shipboard revolts, maronage, conspiracies, and armed uprisings. Investigates the causes and organization of rebellion. Uses the…
History
Explores the political and historical evolution of the Soviet state and society from the 1917 Revolution to the present. Covers the creation of a revolutionary regime, causes and nature of the Stalin revolution, post-Stalinist eorts to…
Furthest-right subjects
History
Not oered regularly; consult department Examines Christian encounters with Judaism, Islam, and the indigenous religions of Africa and America. Explores the intellectual and social consequences of Christian imperialism and the…
History
Provides students with an overview of basic themes and issues in Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present, with an emphasis on exchanges and encounters between the Middle East and Europe/North America. Examines the…
History
Provides a comparative perspective on the history of colonialism in India and Africa. Explores the political, social, and economic changes brought about by colonial rule. Discusses the international context for the emergence of European…
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 64.7 to 68.5; 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.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's & Gender Studies | 31.0% | 42 | view |
| Anthropology | 11.8% | 51 | view |
| History | 8.0% | 113 | view |
| Political Science | 1.5% | 133 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 1.3% | 160 | view |
| Economics | 1.0% | 102 | view |
| Philosophy | 0.9% | 116 | view |
| Art & Art History | 0% | 99 | view |
| Psychology | 0% | 68 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | mean_bias_score | 66.6 | 64.7 – 68.5 | 884 | 34 |
| 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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