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University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison's course descriptions average 65.5 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Wisconsin-Madison reads 2.0 points further right.

ShowCompared withDepartments

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)

University of Wisconsin-Madison: 65.5 (likely range 63.0 to 68.1) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

3%Far left92–100

10%Left75–91

83%Center-left59–74

5%Center42–58

0%Center-right26–41

0%Right9–25

0%Far right0–8

40 plotted courses (the ones with a political framing). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right.

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Framing Subject

Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest left

GEN&WS 446 · Queer Of Color Critique92

Women's & Gender Studies

3 credits. An examination of the emergent theoretical field of queer of color critique, a mode of analysis grounded in the struggles and world-making of LGBTQ people of color. Activists, artists, and theorists have mobilized queer of color…

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GEN&WS 529 · The Science And Politics Of Reproductive83

Women's & Gender Studies

3 credits. Explores the contemporary science and politics of reproductive health in North America. Taught from a reproductive justice (RJ) perspective, a framework for analysis and action developed by Black women health organizers and…

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ART HIST 130 · Seeing Race: Anti-Racism And Visual78

Art & Art History

3 credits. Confronting how images work to shape ways of seeing race, this introduction to visual cultures tracks how power works through the visual - from visual surveillance and racial profiling to anti-racist visual activism. Trains…

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Furthest right

POLI SCI 324 · Chinese Politics42

Political Science

3-4 credits. Examine three questions about Chinese politics through a comparative perspective. First, what functions do formal institutions such as the political party, legislature, courts, and bureaucracy serve in an authoritarian regime?…

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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 68.1; 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 Wisconsin-Madison by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	36.5%	52	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	14.5%	55	view
Sociology	8.2%	49	view
Anthropology	3.8%	53	view
History	2.9%	104	view
Art & Art History	1.2%	165	view
English & Comparative Literature	0.8%	119	view
Economics	0%	92	view
Philosophy	0%	41	view
Political Science	0%	131	view
Psychology	0%	67	view
Religious Studies	0%	20	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 Wisconsin-Madison	mean_bias_score	65.5	63.0 – 68.1	948	40
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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