History
This course provides a general but analytic introduction to the development of contemporary China from 1921, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded, to 1949 when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded, and on towards…
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University of Alabama
University of Alabama's course descriptions average 66.8 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Alabama reads 0.7 points further right.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
4%Far left92–100
35%Left75–91
35%Center-left59–74
13%Center42–58
4%Center-right26–41
2%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
Crisis in Russian society and the coming of the Revolution; the emergence of Stalinism; and political developments since World War II, including the disintegration of the Soviet system.
History
From the 16th to the 18th century, the Spanish empire was one of the most important early modern political, social, economic, and cultural centers of the nascent Atlantic World. This course aims at exploring at legal justifications of…
Furthest-right subjects
Ethnic & African American Studies
An examination of slavery in popular culture from the 1840s to the present. Topics and media include fiction, autobiography, film and television, advertising, and confederate celebrations. Prerequisite(s): AAST 201
History
This course is designed as an examination of the history of the region that became known as the American South, from the colonial era through the end of Reconstruction. Students will be focusing particularly on the evolution of the…
History
A study of crime, punishment, and race in the American South from slavery through the rise of mass incarceration in the 21st century. Topics include slave patrols, convict lease system, lynching, the Lost Cause, white supremacy, the death…
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 64.0 to 69.6; 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.
University of Alabama by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's & Gender Studies | 21.9% | 32 | view |
| Ethnic & African American Studies | 17.4% | 23 | view |
| Sociology | 15.8% | 19 | view |
| History | 4.6% | 131 | view |
| Anthropology | 3.5% | 114 | view |
| Art & Art History | 2.5% | 120 | view |
| Political Science | 2.1% | 94 | view |
| Philosophy | 1.8% | 57 | view |
| Economics | 0% | 58 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 0% | 124 | view |
| Psychology | 0% | 66 | view |
| Religious Studies | 0% | 59 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama | mean_bias_score | 66.8 | 64.0 – 69.6 | 897 | 30 |
| 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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