Political Science
The rise and fall of communist regimes and the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, emphasizing social, economic, and political influences affecting divergent paths to democracy.
All schools · Religious-affiliated
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University's course descriptions average 66.7 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Southern Methodist University reads 0.8 points further right.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
2%Far left92–100
30%Left75–91
36%Center-left59–74
14%Center42–58
2%Center-right26–41
10%Right9–25
6%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
Considers the denial and pursuit of rights around four key areas integral to human rights: labor, spatial segregation, gender and sexuality, and education. Examines each of these to better understand how colonial and apartheid states denied…
History
The effects of the breakdown of the old regime and the establishment of Soviet power on Russian society and culture. Examines the evolution of political and social institutions, ideologies, literature and the arts against the backdrop of the era's turbulent political history.
Furthest-right subjects
History
Examines the institution of slavery, the events leading to the Civil War, the war itself, and the subsequent efforts at reconstruction.
History
Examines the destruction of the European Jews as they emerged from pre-World War I anti-Semitism and Nazi racism. Considers Jewish responses to genocide, the behavior of bystanders, and possibilities of rescue.
Religious Studies
A study of responses to the Holocaust by Jews and Christians. Includes an overview of the history of the Holocaust as it affected the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe. Students read personal memoirs of survivors of ghettos,…
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 63.0 to 70.5; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.
- Only 11 of Southern Methodist University's descriptions carried a scorable lean, so this average and its rank are rough; the interval is the honest range.
- 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.
Southern Methodist University by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art & Art History | 4.3% | 161 | view |
| Anthropology | 2.4% | 85 | view |
| History | 2.1% | 95 | view |
| Economics | 0% | 35 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 0% | 75 | view |
| Ethnic & African American Studies | 0% | 1 | view |
| Philosophy | 0% | 43 | view |
| Political Science | 0% | 85 | view |
| Psychology | 0% | 34 | view |
| Religious Studies | 0% | 43 | view |
| Sociology | 0% | 42 | view |
| Women's & Gender Studies | 0% | 8 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Methodist University | mean_bias_score | 66.7 | 63.0 – 70.5 | 707 | 11 |
| 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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