History
FDR: HU Humanities Distribution The revolutions of 1917, the emergence of the Soviet system, the Stalinist period, Stalin's successors, and the eventual collapse of the USSR.
All schools · Liberal arts college
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University's course descriptions average 63.9 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Washington and Lee University reads 3.7 points further right.
Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
Where its courses fall
2%Far left92–100
25%Left75–91
44%Center-left59–74
16%Center42–58
3%Center-right26–41
6%Right9–25
4%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
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. Note: Completion of HIST 102 or 221 is recommended but not required prior to taking HIST 322. Selected topics in Russian history, including but not limited to heroes and villains,…
Art & Art History
This capstone seminar studies the origins, applications, strengths, and weaknesses of various methodological approaches that art historians use to study art. Topics include Formalism; Iconography and Iconology; Social History and Marxism;…
Furthest-right subjects
History
FDR: HU Humanities Distribution A study of the making of the Old South. Slavery. Antebellum political, economic, social, and cultural developments. The origins and growth of sectionalism.
History
FDR: HU Prerequisite: Prerequisite: HIST 102, 214, 215, or 224 or equivalent, or instructor consent. Common readings introduce students to some of the most lively debates among scholars about the causes of the failure of democracy in the…
Political Science
FDR: SS2 Social Science - Group 2 Distribution Prerequisite: instructor consent. Corequisite: INTR 453 - International Internship This summer, study abroad course examines post-apartheid politics of South Africa. Our initial focus is on the…
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 62.4 to 65.3; 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.
Washington and Lee University by department (share of courses described from the left)
| Department | Left-framed share | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic & African American Studies | 17.6% | 17 | view |
| Sociology | 16.5% | 79 | view |
| Women's & Gender Studies | 8.3% | 12 | view |
| History | 7.6% | 105 | view |
| Political Science | 7.1% | 56 | view |
| Economics | 4.1% | 49 | view |
| English & Comparative Literature | 3.7% | 107 | view |
| Art & Art History | 3.6% | 111 | view |
| Religious Studies | 1.7% | 60 | view |
| Philosophy | 0% | 65 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington and Lee University | mean_bias_score | 63.9 | 62.4 – 65.3 | 661 | 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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